In For A Penny, Out For A Pound (New Story)
by Tallictr
Summary: I'm in the walking dead. Not the show, the game. Thankfully. It's a bit too much for me, to be honest. Too many dead characters and not enough time to plan and save. The game, however, is more my style. Lucky for me, I think, I'm actually in the game. So...who do I get to meet first? [New Story]
1. Chapter 1

_This is a re-do of an old, unfinished, story I posted. Hopefully you guys enjoy it. Let me know!_

 _I'll see you all in the next chapter!_

 _Bye~_

The Walking Dead. Good game. _Great_ story. The only problem: I'm in the game now. Or rather, the game has become my reality. Whichever one you prefer. The point is, I now have to fight for my very life and to the best of my abilities if I have any hope of making it.

Now, how do I know I'm in the game? Because the last thing I remember is getting home from my shift, turning on my PlayStation, and trying to decide on whether or not I should record a let's play.

Before I could make a decision, I watched as my tv screen flickered, went black, and then emitted a blinding light that I guess dropped me off where I am now. So, that's the theory of where I am and how I got here that I'm rolling with.

After about five minutes of hysterical crying over the likelihood of dying via walker, of which there were several I could see in the nearby vicinity, I take a moment to gather my thoughts and try to discern where I'm starting from in the story.

But, I'm still too shaken up to match my surroundings with any game settings I can remember off the top of my head. I take a deep breath. Exhale in, through my nose, and breathe out, from my mouth. In, out, in, out…

Okay, I feel much better. Much, much better.

Right now, I'm in a car on a nearly abandoned neighborhood street. Cars are piled up for as far as I can see up and down the road and with that in mind there are only so many places that I could be starting from.

Several attempts to figure it out later and I'm ignoring it for the time being. I figure trying to focus on what I actually have going for me is a better use of my time. You know, to put a little pep in my step before I have a goddamn panic attack.

Now, what I have are skills that are going to be needed if I want to make it out of this nightmare alive.

First off, I speak multiple languages. So, I should be set in case I come across anyone who happens to only knows Spanish, French, or Russian. Next, I have the skills any good mechanic needs of she wants to fix up her ride and save a few bucks. Right now, I don't think I could ever thank my father enough for all those times he forced me to be his helper in the garage. I learned a lot, but most of it against my will.

Aside from that, I'm much stronger than my sexy, delicate looks give me credit for thanks to years of taking Krav Maga and a handful of other self-defense classes with my brother. That kid loves anything to do with fighting.

As I go on, I can feel my spirits being lifted. Oh, Duh! I'm also an experienced cop for Pete's sake! How can I just go and forget eleven years on the job!? I smack myself on the forehead. I'm such an idiot!

Hey, now that I think about it, I'm like Rick 2.0! Except I'm younger. And a woman from another world where there _aren't_ flesh eating zombies walking about. I sigh as I remember the walkers still just aimlessly wandering about the street in the distance.

I look at the rearview mirror to try and see if there is anything that stands out among the houses behind me when I notice a large black duffel bag taking up most of the backseat. It took a few seconds of me staring before I reached over and brought it up to the front seat.

Holy shit did I not expect it to be so heavy!

I silently prayed for whatever force it was that brought me her to not screw me over with a shit starter pack. Because right now I couldn't see this as anything other than a way to apologize for bringing me to this godforsaken world and I really hoped that I wasn't just being messed with.

I unzipped the bag and happily found myself smiling and giggling like a madwoman. This was the kind of gear that you'd imagine people who genuinely feared the dead coming back to life having underneath their bed.

*Sniff* The Universe doesn't hate me after all. Oh, wow! There's a whole bunch of cool shit in here. Riot gear? Oh, hell yeah! I'm putting this on first chance I get. Which would be once I leave the safety of this car. Can't exactly put on big clunky riot gear while I'm sitting behind a steering wheel, can I?

Well, I _could._ But it wouldn't be easy.

Aside from the gear, there's also several guns and multiple cartons of ammo to go with them. Handguns, rifles, some hunting knives, a dozen beautiful silencers that'll no doubt save a lot of lives and spare us a lot of trouble, a shotgun or two, and even a badass looking machete. I'm trying so hard not to punch the ceiling in excitement.

Then, of course, I remember that there were still the side pouches to go through. I took out a small revolver that I placed in the cup holder and a handful of bullets that I stuffed into one of my jacket's inner pockets.

In the first side pocket, I find a first-aid kit. Bandages, gauze, painkillers, antibiotics, large needles that I try not to look at, rubbing alcohol that I wish was regular alcohol, disposable gloves, the materials needed for stitching wounds, and several other medical tools that I can't identify.

The second pocket only held a map of Georgia. But at a closer look I can see what makes it _the_ most important item in my possession. Marked on it are the locations of everywhere the games bring you to and the routes that were used to get there.

That wasn't even something I had thought to worry about. Looks like my time here won't be as miserable as I thought it'd be. I'm so much more prepared than I felt my first five minutes here.

The third side pocket didn't have anything at all inside. Looks like that's all the freebies I'm getting. No complaints here. The map alone was enough to feel grateful to whatever sent me here in the first place.

Feeling mentally prepped for what I'm about to face, I'm just about to open the door when I remember that I'm surrounded by cars. And in this world, that's just where those little ankle-biting fuckers like to hide.

I take the armor out of the bag, lamenting the challenge that it's going to be just to take _off_ what I have on, and place it down on top of the noticeably lighter bag. Fifteen minutes later, I had my regular clothes folded neatly and put away and the riot gear covering everywhere save for my face.

Unfortunately, I had to switch out the revolver for a handgun that used magazines. On the plus side, it was easier to reach into the pouch strapped to my side for a single magazine than to go digging around my jacket for individual bullets.

I zipped up the duffel bag, took a deep breath to work up the nerve to leave the car, and then realize that Clementine's house had a forest behind it. And a treehouse! Both of which were things I could use to narrow down where her house could be.

Getting out of the car and keeping my bag of lifelines close to me I head over to a row of houses, one of which should be Clementine's judging from the forest being on that side of the road and begin my search.

After about six or seven backyards, I finally find one with the treehouse. What tipped me off that it was her house was the sound of walkers banging and clawing on the other side of the sturdy wooden fence that the other backyards didn't have. Looks like Lee had been here not too long ago.

But I didn't see Shawn or Chet or anyone out front…I spin around and jog over to the sliding glass door. I open it to find that the babysitter, Marietta I think her name was, is already taken care of.

Fuck…that means they've already gone off to Hershel's farm. Which means I can't stop Hershel's son from dying! I was hoping to make Hershel see the truth of the situation so that his family survives much longer than they did originally, but it seems that things won't always go my way.

I step over the body, make my way over to the living room, and plop myself down on the couch. I need to think. The whole reason for trying to join up with them was to avoid doing this whole thing by myself.

But now there's no reason for me to just show up to Hershel's farm. And if I did, it would be unannounced and probably suspicious considering how soon after I'd be leaving with Lee and Clementine and Kenny and his family. Besides, meeting them _now_ would have made it easier to assert myself as a friend because once the gravity of the situation sets in, people are going to only trust those who have been with them from the beginning.

I sat on the couch, eyes closed but facing the television. After a few minutes, it hit me.

In the game, Andre shows up if Lee and Clementine choose to leave at night. But as far as I know, they chose to leave right away. So that means that Andre's going to show up in a few hours, or at least pass by!

Ok…I had a new plan: Wait for Andre. But what do I do until he gets here? That is, _if_ he gets here. What I'm doing is all under the assumption that he'll show up. If he doesn't, I'll…maybe…go past the farm and just head straight on over to Macon?

I might as well considering the fact that the farm is a bust. Maybe I can get to the motor inn ahead of everyone and save poor Irene. She had to have been bitten only a few hours before Glenn showed up.

In the show, the man from the CDC said that the fastest recorded case was a mere three minutes with the longest time taking nearly eight hours. Even then with billions of people in the world, the time it takes could be even longer.

And when _she_ died looking as though she was in the last stages of the infection. I bet if I can get to her by early tomorrow morning I can save her. Yeah…I'll drive all night if I have to. At the very least, I _have_ to save _her_.

Otherwise, what the hell was the point of future knowledge if it just goes to waste?

Still, what can I do while I wait? I run my fingers through my hair until a little lightbulb goes off. I saw a small moving truck, maybe a little larger than Kenny's RV, in the driveway of one of the houses earlier. The furniture itself was piled together on the front lawn so it wasn't even filled with anything. I figure whoever rented it was in the middle of trying to move when the walkers came.

Maybe if I search through enough garages, I might find some useful things before the looters come and take what they can. I figure that'll happen in the next few days or so considering it's only the beginning of the apocalypse here.

And the cars themselves were also small gold mines. The motor inn would need a generator and all the gas I could get my hands on. Luckily for me I was surrounded by what, twenty cars that probably had enough gasoline between them to keep the generator, _generators_ if I was able to find more than one, going for more than just a couple of weeks?

Especially if used sparingly.

I'd seen the people in movies siphon gas with a hose, their mouth, and a container for the gas. All I need are the containers and a tube.

I searched the house for everything and anything that I could get my hands on. And I have to say, it felt like I was giving a big 'fuck you' to a lot of game developers by doing the one thing that's forbidden in most games: Going up a staircase that has furniture blocking the way.

I moved everything as quietly as I could, scouring the bedrooms upstairs. Amazingly enough, there was a gun in the nightstand in the master bedroom. I guess Clementine's parents were gun people.

And freaks under the bed sheets apparently! The drawer underneath that had a whole bunch of stuff that even _I_ needed to blush at. Like, 'Do you remember the safe word?' type stuff. I don't think I'll ever look at peanut butter the same way ever again.

With that being pushed into the far depths of my mind, I moved onto Clementine's room which was admittedly how my room looked when I was eight. Very pink and very rainbows and unicorn focused.

I thought maybe I could find a memento to bring back to her, but it was a pretty barebones room all things considering. She must not have been spoiled as a child like I was.

After this little trip to the forbidden zone, I left the house in search of supplies.

Four hours later, with the sun beginning to go down behind me, I was loading in yet another generator into the back of the moving truck. That was four so far. Any more I could find would be good for parts in case one of the others broke down.

As of the fourth generator, I had managed to rifle through at least half of the neighborhood. It was nerve wracking doing my best to go through houses and garages whilst having to worry about someone coming along and taking away all my hard work.

So far, I'd gathered enough supplies to fill a little over half of the truck. At this rate, I'll have cleared out the entire neighborhood and filled up the entire truck. It was so goddamn gratifying to see.

I don't really remember everything I've grabbed so far, but there were things in the truck that would no doubt be useful in the long run.

Fire extinguishers, bedsheets and pillows that'll be fine once they're washed, toolboxes, propane tanks, generators, various firearms and accompanying ammo, clothes that I can wear later on, matches, toilet paper, soap, shampoo, towels and washcloths, candles, condoms, enough canned foods to last a _very_ long time if rationed correctly, board games, books that looked like they'd be interesting reads, a bunch of handwritten recipes I found and placed in Ziploc bags, cleaning supplies, and whatever else I can't think of off the top of my head.

In all honesty, some of these were luxury items that were more for keeping ourselves entertained rather than survival. I figure that people with no outlet for their stress are usually the ones who snap first.

Going into homes and looting what was left behind had been the easy part. The hard part was putting down the walkers who were inside. Especially the ones that were children. Even though I know they weren't really children anymore, they were still children shaped and that tripped me up several times.

I still put them down, of course. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I do.

Andre shows up just as I begin to take my break, of which I've taken several because moving all this shit around in this heavy ass gear is tiring, in his car and hesitates before walking over to me. From the look on his face he's seen the walkers in all their glory.

"Hello officer!" I do my best to sound cheery. "What, uh, what can I do for you?" He looks at me, then at the truck full of the stuff I looted, and then back at me. I shrug my shoulders. "It's the apocalypse, man. I figure that those things won't be needing them, so why not stockpile what I can before other people come for it?"

Unimpressed at my response, "You're looting while the city's in a state of panic. I _should_ bring you in." He rests his hands on the handcuffs on his belt. The way his voice carried…it sounded hollow. And there was a haunting look in his eyes. The city was probably where he just came from, and those stacks of smoke I can almost smell tell me everything I need to know about what he's seen.

The man's probably trying to hold onto _something_ normal so he can function. Namely, arresting a criminal.

"Are you really going to do something so incredibly stupid as to handcuff me and then drive me all the way back to your precinct in the middle of your monster infected city?" He hesitates before nodding, unsure of himself.

"Let me ask you this, you've seen what those _things_ have been doing, right? Eating people left and right and then turning them into whatever they are." He nodded his head again, paling as he remembered something horrible.

"Then listen to me when I say that not only will it get worse from here on out in the city, but it won't be long before shit really hits the fan for the rest of the world too." Andre's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak.

I wonder what he'll be like in the coming months. Hopefully not an asshole. Too many of those are bound to come up while as time passes. The game showed him for all of two seconds before sending him to an unknown fate.

"What?" I felt bad for just putting in his head the fact that the world as he knew it would be gone in a matter of days, but it needed to be done. No time to waste if I was to ensure our survival.

I nodded sadly. "This thing is everywhere. As far as I know, all across the United States, probably the world too, these monsters are going around infecting people with whatever they have and turning them into more monsters. That's why I'm gathering everything I can get my hands on _right_ _now_ before everyone else starts to do the same thing."

His hand drops from his belt and he sort of crumples to the ground, sobbing silently. That happened faster than I'd expected. Shit…I wanted to help him understand, not whatever this was.

"This really _is_ the end of the world…isn't it?" He slowly rocks back and forth, completely devastated by the realization. "I mean, I figured that the government would do something before too long…but…"

I shake my head. "The government? Doubt it. I think they're first move would be to _contain_ the largest outbreak centers in an attempt to prevent it from spreading. Which is why I'm trying to get the hell away from the city as soon as possible."

He didn't say anything after that. Just kept sitting there, slowly unraveling before me. "What's your name?"

Andre looked up at me, the same broken look as before. "Andre…Yours?"

I walk over to him. "Penny." I extend my hand. "So, Andre…seeing as how you're not looking too busy…you wanna help me gather supplies? Night's going to fall soon and I want to be done with this before then. With your help, we just might be able to do it."

He doesn't move, and neither does my extended hand. "C'mon, I know the world going to shit is terrible and all…but it could be a whole lot worse."

Raising his eyebrows incredulously, "How could all of _this_ ," he gestures to the desolate neighborhood. "be any worse!?"

I smile. "Well, you could be all alone right now with no idea how bad things really are. Instead, you're here with me and my truck full of supplies." His gaze leaves me and travels to my truck. "So how about it? Would you mind helping me out?"

He looks at my hand, internally debating whether or not to trust me. I _am_ a stranger to him, after all. But I'm also dressed like a cop, technically I am a cop, and that seems to set him at ease. His shaking hand reaches up for mine. Pulling him up to his feet, I watch as he does his best to shake everything off.

"Okay. Alright, let's do this. What…what do you need me to do?" And just like that, I found myself taking the first step in changing the tragedy that was this game into something a little less heartbreaking.


	2. Chapter 2

_Coming at you with another chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it._

 _See you all in the next chapter._

 _Bye~_

We finished loading up the truck just as the Sun began to touch the horizon. The neighborhood was, for the most part, picked clean. I went into the houses and brought back whatever I thought we could use and Andre loaded it into the truck.

And now that I didn't have to occasionally go back outside to keep an eye on everything, clearing the rest of the houses happened much faster than I had expected. It also helped that limited space in the truck made me focus more on grabbing smaller objects like tools, food, and clothes that I thought might fit Andre rather than large objects like another generator.

I also made sure to put four spare tires in the back just to cover our bases. If the truck got a flat and we couldn't repair it, we'd be fucked.

Closing the back of the truck nearly all of the way but leaving an opening to place some last-minute additions inside, I'd taken care of the walkers in the neighborhood so we hadn't had to worry about anything hearing the sound of grinding metal, I turned to Andre who had been staring at me.

"See something you like?" I smiled playfully.

Rather than play along, he hummed nervously. "What do we do next? Where…" he looks back at the still smoking, and probably burning, city. "Where are we going to go now? If everywhere else is like-"

"Everywhere else _is_ like this. And that's why we're going to stay away from major cities. But before we talk about where we should go, we need to do one last thing." I motion for him to follow me into the garage of the house the truck is parked at.

"There are twenty-four cars in this neighborhood. I figure if you take twelve cars and I take twelve, we can siphon the gas they have inside." I hand him a garden hose and a plastic container. "Now I've never done this before, but I think you just stick the hose into the…tank and…try…to suck the…"

I trail off as he begins to laugh. And I mean he begins to absolutely lose his shit. His face was red, he had tears running down the sides of his face, it sounded like he couldn't breathe, and he needed to hold himself up on all fours.

Me, I felt myself growing hot. The kind of heat that you feel when you've just embarrassed yourself in front of the entire class for calling the teacher "mom". Andre tried several times to try and get up, but each attempt was met with the same failure.

He just couldn't _not_ break down in laughter.

"I-I'm sorryyy-eehahaha! I just- I just-" He was literally gasping for air at this point, having been laughing too hard to breathe properly. Would it be rude of me to just deck him? A swift punch to the back of the head.

After a few minutes of standing there feeling like I was as red as a tomato, he finally regained his composure. Or so I thought. "I'm s-sorry Penny, _really_. I just wasn't expecting this…"

Oh. "I mean, just yesterday I was driving through Downtown thinking about whether or not I'd be able to…" his voice starts to break. "…be able to get my mechanic to fix the brakes on my car before my college buddy came to visit…" He laughs mockingly. "Who's gonna fix them now!? The _thing_ that ate him!?"

I watched on as his laughs broke down into sobs and those sobs became more and more hysterical. My brain then began to do that annoying thing where it made me understand things. Like how life shattering this was for Andre. For everyone, basically.

To me, this wasn't my world. My home reality. This place was a game that I knew. One that I played frequently. I didn't have any ties here. There was no life for me to suddenly lose and no family who were suddenly dead.

My family back home, I held a comfort in knowing that they weren't here with me, much as I miss them. And that's all I really needed. Them safe at home.

Getting on my knees, I moved in close before wrapping him in my arms. And we stayed like that until the sun went down. The need for gas long forgotten, lost in this poor man's search for comfort in a stranger's arms.

Once it got dark, I heard the grandfather clock go off from inside the house. From the chimes, it was getting to be late in the night. Time to move on, before it was too late for Irene.

"Are you feeling better, Andre?" He sniffs away the devastation he feels and nods. "Yeah, I'm good."

We stand up and separate, both eager to push past what just happened. Andre does so by dropping some knowledge on me. "We can't siphon gas the way you're thinking of, Penny. Ingesting any fumes or any gasoline would be a death sentence since there are no hospitals that are able to send an ambulance out."

I nod, annoyed that I won't be able to get any gas that way. "Well…there goes that plan. Any ideas?" As it turned out, he did have one.

As far as he could tell, people had been in a big hurry to leave even before the real danger presented itself. As if they could sense the disaster about to happen, people began to pack what they could into their cars and try to get out.

Andre reasoned that there was a good chance that one of the cars in the neighborhood had containers of gas inside the trunks. Something I hadn't even considered. This is why I'm glad I waited for him.

It looks like I made the right choice after all.

After that it took a half an hour for us to gather what was there and finally leave the still empty neighborhood.

Once we had taken the cars for everything they were worth, we'd found more clothes, food, medical supplies, _recreational_ medical supplies, five handguns and eleven boxes of ammo, two shotguns and six boxes of ammo, and seventeen of those five-gallon plastic gasoline containers.

Which, by my rough estimate, is more than enough for a trip that's even longer than just driving to Macon which Andre says should only be less than three hours away depending on the traffic. But traffic didn't matter when I can just drive on the grass next to the road and circumvent all that bullshit.

This bountiful haul coupled with the moving truck already having a full tank of gas, we were set for the next few weeks should everything work out. With luck, we'll manage to get to the motor inn without issue and everything should be fine from there.

At least, for the next few months it would be.

 **Scene Break**

By the time we finally got to the motel, surprisingly it was the truck's still functioning GPS that got us here since neither of us could read an actual map to save our lives, it had almost been too late for Irene.

After six miserable hours of driving past a semi-deserted highway taking alternate route after god-awful alternate route, filled with people and walkers alike, we finally managed to get to Macon. And more importantly, we were able to use the GPS to find the motor inn.

I was surprised to find out that the motor inn's full name was Travelier Motor Inn Motel. I'm not sure if it ever said that in the game, but then again, I can't be expected to remember every little detail.

On our drive over here, Andre asked why we were going to Macon. Specifically, why we were going to some random motel I told him about. On the spot, I claimed that I'd been there a couple of times before and that it would be a good place to settle down for a while.

He seemed restless, so I assured him that once he saw the place, he'd know exactly what we could do with it.

We 'chose' to go to the inn first, which I would have pushed had he been against it. Andre figured that we probably wouldn't be able to get much from the town if we took the moving truck with us. It being filled with crap already.

Knowing that the sound of the truck's engine would draw walkers towards us, we shut the truck down and turned off the lights.

I gave him one of my silenced pistols and told him to guard the truck until I got back. He didn't actually have to leave his seat since the truck we picked up was one of those trucks that had the storage area and the driving area connected by a small gap that drivers used to sleep when they pulled over.

If someone tried to take our shit, Andre would know almost immediately and be able to fend them off.

"Remember, only headshots will kill them so don't bother shooting at anything other than the head." He nodded, and I left the safety of the truck carefully making my way over to the front of the inn. Man, I hope I didn't take too long getting here.

I had fifteen bullets in a clip, three clips, and only four or five targets I needed to take out. Should be easy, especially with the silencer. And it was.

Rounding the corner, I get to work.

I have plans for the truck that do not involve a smashed window, so I leave it alone for now. First, I take out the walker sitting against the car tire. After that, I quickly shoot the one walker standing around beside Kenny's future RV.

I sigh as I imagine how troublesome it'll be to have to drag these bodies far enough away that they won't be a bother to us. Now all that's left is the one pinned by the car and the two pounding away on Irene's door. Then it should be all clear if there aren't any walkers left in any of the rooms.

The axe beside the walker being pinned by the car was much easier to grab once I'd put a bullet in its head. Not that I need it, but it would be cool to hold onto. Makes me look all badass.

As I walked up the stairs, I can't help but wonder to myself why killing walkers seemed so much harder to do in the show and game compared to real life. I mean, Lee could have just went up and shot all of them.

They're slower and not as smart. What else does someone need to just go and take them out? Speaking of taking them out, two shots and they're down for the count.

I knock on the door. No response.

"Hello? I saw the walkers pounding on your door earlier. They're gone now, you're safe." I listen closely and hear shuffling from inside the room. Someone's in there, but I'm pretty sure they're ignoring me.

"Come on! Open the door and you'll see that it's all ok out here, I promise." Still nothing. I sigh and decide to go with what they did in the game. "Ok. If you're not coming out, I think I'll just come in!"

I holster my gun, but not before getting the walkers one more time in the head. If the horror movies have taught me anything, nothing's dead until it's dead a second time.

Taking the axe with both hands, I raise it up and bring it down on the single plank of wood. An immediate response this time. "Please! I-I'll come out. Just…please stop." She sounded healthy, if not a little scared.

The door opened and out comes a woman. Irene.

She looks at the two walkers at our feet. The look on her face is shock. "Thank you. I didn't think those things could even _be_ killed." I smile at her. "They can. Are you ok?" She simply nods her head and stared at me in awe. Looks like I have a fan.

"Good. I take it you're all alone here?" I look past her and into the room. No sign of anyone else. Didn't she have a boyfriend or something?

Again, a nod. Though she sounded noticeably saddened. "He left some time ago. I don't think he's coming back for me. I didn't think anyone was coming back for me." I just 'hm' in sympathetic understanding. Either he's a scumbag and ditched her, or he's dead.

It was hard to tell, judging from the way the plank of wood was nailed onto the door from the outside. The boyfriend could have either been trying to keep her from running after him and putting herself in danger or stop her from chasing after him and leaving her to die.

"My name's Irene." She holds her hand out. Carefully, because she _is_ still a stranger to me, I take her hand. "You can call me Penny. Hey, quick question. You wouldn't happen to be interested in joining up with my friend and I would you?"

"Huh?" I smile at her confusion.

"I didn't come here alone. My friend and I came here looking to fortify this place. And since you're already here and we could use the extra set of hands…" I look at her expectantly. She seems quite taken aback by the offer.

I hoped she would say yes. This was the sort of thing you wouldn't be able to get later on. An immediate companion was only something that happened when everything first goes to shit and people are actively looking to gather with other people.

 _Before_ they get wise to the fact that you can't trust anybody except for your own people. And even then, there's always one or two people who betray that trust.

"Plus, I'd feel bad kicking you out after going out of my way to save you from these things." I tap one of the walkers with my foot. "But if you don't want to, I understand." I looked her dead in the eyes as I spoke.

The implication that I didn't need to save her was there, but I doubt she'd pick up on anything other than the fact that I saved her. She seemed to be the real ditzy type. If so, I wouldn't be surprised if the boyfriend left.

Ditzy people in this world can only spell out disaster if not placed in the right group with the right people.

"You wouldn't mind me being a part of your group?" I shake my head. From the fact that she seemed genuinely surprised at the offer, I would say rejection and low expectations in other people to treat her kindly is a common theme for her. I wonder if playing on that will make her much more cooperative.

Not to sound manipulative, but I _do_ need loyal group members.

"If you're up for it, we should start with clearing out the rooms. Any walkers, I call those things walkers by the way, need to be taken care of before we can gather up anything remotely useful. You ok with that?"

"I think that's good and all but I'm not too comfortable around those thi-walkers. I'm sorry." She was scared? That would need to be dealt with sooner rather than later. I could understand that now, but in the future I need her to be ready.

I give her a friendly pat on the shoulder and turn to walk away. "That's fine, Irene. There'll be time for us to work that little detail out later. But first, we should let Andre know everything's fine." I look at her over my shoulder. "That's, uh, the friend I was telling you about. He's waiting around the corner with our truck. A truck, chock full of supplies we'll need if we want to make this place anything worthwhile."

Irene immediately fell in line behind me. She was quick to follow, it seemed. That was a good sign for things to come. I didn't need someone who was disagreeable from the start being one of the founding members of our group. I didn't want another Larry fucking things up for us.

Soon after, the moving truck was parked. It was done so facing the street for a quick getaway if necessary. It could save all our lives one day.

The three of us worked towards clearing out the rooms, with only three walkers needing to be taken care of. Note to self: ALWAYS CHECK THE BATHTUB

Irene would come in after Andre and I were done taking out any walkers. Whatever useful thing we found was put in the trunk of her car to look over later. Then we'd do it all over again with the next-door room until the motel was finally cleared.

After all that was out of the way and we were able to sit down for a little break, Andre and Irene decided that getting to know one another would be a good idea. Though it was mostly for Irene's sake since he and I had a whole six hours on the drive up to talk.

Andre had been a cop for almost nine years. No serious relationships and not much family left willing to talk to him after he left home to join the force. Only close friends that he'd rather not think about now that the world had gone to shit.

I could tell that he was a long way from being okay, but hopefully being a part of whatever we were would help him.

The way Irene told it, she was a devout Christian who honestly believes that the world is like this because God has decided to test humanity's righteousness.

…Yeah, she's not all up there right now; which isn't unexpected at this point.

But given that she hasn't gone completely batshit insane right away, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt for now. Hell, maybe she'll even think of her purpose for being here as something other than the usual 'I must gather the other believers and punish the sinners' cliché. That never worked out well for the people in my position.

Hopefully it worked out…I'd really hate to have to kick her out or something. She's kind of cute. Attractive in the 'forbidden fruit' kind of way.

The rest of what she said made me feel like I should go and give her a big hug. Parents, who sounded fanatic as fuck, died when she was sixteen. A downplayed history of violent boyfriends, no jobs other than playing housewife for said abusive boyfriends, and what sounded like several failed attempts to have a baby that she sees now as a blessing from God to not have brought children into such a world.

You know what? I _will_ give her a hug because now _I'm_ sad and fuck those guys and everything else she's suffered from!

I give her a tight squeeze, catching her off guard. "Andre, get in here!" He looks hesitant until I give him a glare. I know I've won when he sighs and drags his feet on the way over.

Success! Nothing like a semi-awkward three-person hug to shake off the first-time apocalypse jitters.


	3. Chapter 3

_New chapter is posted, time to hit the books._

 _See you all in the next chapter!_

 _Bye~_

Driving into town in the pick-up truck whose window I'd spared, Irene and I looked for the stores that had already been looted. If we were lucky, we could gather all the important things that others had missed.

Some of them luxuries and day to day items that people overlooked until they needed them.

Again, taking advantage of the fact that people hadn't yet figured out that no help was coming for them was an amazing tactic. They stole televisions sets, video game systems, and other completely useless things thinking that they'd be okay once the government handled everything.

Those were the people who were the first to go hungry. To not have enough to keep warm. To be caught with nothing to defend themselves as walker or, even worse, other people found them.

As we drove into town, we saw a gathering of walkers concentrated around a drug store with a closed metal fence keeping them from getting close to the doors. I suggested we'd best avoid that area for now. She agreed, and we snuck around from vandalized store to vandalized store gathering whatever we could get our hands on.

An electronics stores for rechargeable batteries, solar panels, wires, flashlights, and lightbulbs, a local grocery store for non-perishable foods and the section of the store that's actually a pharmacy, and a home improvement store to grab enough scrap metal and wood to build a wall.

Along with the scrap metal and the wood we also grabbed how-to books, fertilizer, bags of seed, and several gardening tools that seemed like something we'd need at some point.

The truck had enough room for a decent amount of crap, so we got a lot of the good stuff but not everything. We could always come back later for more, assuming the stores we visited were left relatively untouched by then.

As we finished loading the last of the fertilizer into the overpacked truck, Irene was way stronger than she looked by the way, I took a glance at the drug store where Carley, Larry, Lilly, Glenn and Doug were holed up.

Taking a closer look at the crowd, I see that there's dead walkers strewn about on the ground. What's more, the gate keeping the walkers out was closed and locked. That means that Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck were already inside the store as well.

Which also means that…Glenn had either left the store or was going to soon. And I should probably be there if that was going to happen if I wanted the first meeting with their group to go as planned. So, it was time to go.

I'd be coming later, however. I couldn't just leave them to handle this mess on their own. Not if it meant Doug wouldn't be here to electrify the gate or Carley to do whatever it was she did.

On the way back to the motor inn, I was thinking of what I should say to Glenn when he came to us. I know he's supposed to be in the show, but I really feel like not following that at all because every person counts _here_.

It's selfish, I know. But I can't afford not to be if I'm going to make this work. If I'm going to keep as many of us alive as possible.

"Once we get back to the motor inn and unload everything, I think we should go back into own and check out that drug store we were avoiding. I'm not sure, but I think there were people inside."

She nodded. "Okay. But what makes you think that? I didn't see any lights on or anything. Only walkers."

I pulled into the motor inn parking lot and spotted Andre with a gun in hand and his legs dangling off the second story of the motel. Good to know he was keeping a close eye on things here. Even better to know that he didn't just run off with our stuff.

"Why do you think there were so many walkers gathered around the entrance? Plus, unlike the other buildings whose doors were unlocked, though the windows were smashed to hell, the drug store had a lock on its gate."

Irene made an 'oh' face. "Then I'll stay here and watch our stuff, and you and Andre can go and take care of the walkers and the people in the drug store." I smiled, "Unfortunately, Andre _knows_ how to use a gun and has no problems killing walkers. He has to stay here and watch our things." I turn off the car. "So, you know what that means?"

"It means I'm going into town with you, doesn't it?" She sounded absolutely miserable and I loved it.

"Yes. Yes, it does." I chuckled as I got out of the car. "But this is a good thing, Irene. It'll give me a chance to teach you how to survive this, uh, _test_ that God's putting us through, right?" She gave me puppy dog eyes. Silently begging me to change my mind.

I gave her the most 'sorry not sorry' smile I could give her and moved to get the supplies out of the truck and into one of the rooms. Leaving our stuff out in the open is bound to attract a lot of bandits and whatnot should they be nearby.

That is, if there were bandits at all at this point. It's still fairly earlier on.

Oh, shit! Speaking of bandits, I need to find a way to save Jolene and her daughter. I'm honestly not about to let them be sexually assaulted like they're supposed to end up being. That was pretty fucked up what those Save-Lots assholes did to them.

And while I should also save Ben and the high school kids, the only possible way that could happen is if I take care of the bandits. They're the ones that went after them in the first place

But before I can get that far ahead, I'll need to secure the motor inn.

I motion to Andre to come down from his spot. As he does, I tll Irene to take over until we're ready to leave. As they pass each other on the staircase, he gives her the rifle and a pat on the shoulder. "Make sure to let us know if you see _anything_ that looks like trouble."

From the look on her face, and the almost cartoon-like shaking of her knees, she was both terrified to hold a gun and happy to be actually helpful for the first time since joining us. I don't think she counts loading stuff into the back of the truck as helpful what with the undead walking around.

Once it was the two of us unloading the truck, I spoke quietly. "There were some people in a drug store in town that might be in trouble. I was thinking of heading over there and helping them out. I wanted to know what you thought."

Leaving people out of decisions like this makes them feel unappreciated and unimportant. I was going to do this regardless of what he thought, though it'd be nice to have his approval, but wanted him to know that whatever I did I did it with his opinion in mind.

It turns out those team building exercises upper management forced on all the departments really did turn out to be useful. Who knew?

"I don't know. You did say earlier that we should be hesitant about who we help. We don't really know anything about them. If they're even in there. For all we know, it could just be more walkers. Plus, what if they ty something sneaky? I don't want to _not_ help them, I just don't want it to come back and bite us in the ass."

I shrug my shoulders. "We need to fortify the hell out of this place, Andre. To do that we need more than just three people. Two of which are cops and the third is someone who's never worked a day in her sad life." My voice drops to less than a whisper.

"You're right. We _do_ need more than three people." He puts down the box of seeds. "Okay. I'm for it. When should we leave?"

I glance over to Irene for a second. "Actually, I wanted you to stay here and keep an eye on things again." He frowned. "I know you don't like guard duty, I wouldn't like it either. But I want to get a chance to get close to Irene."

He gives an amused 'Oh, so you swing _that_ way and go for _her_ type' kind of look. I shake my head, annoyed. "No, you idiot! I meant I want to try and get to know her. What she can do, what we need to teach her, what role she can play once we get this place up and running."

When his face doesn't change I just smack his arm and walk away. "We'll be leaving in about two hours. Enough time to get this unloaded and take a bit of a rest. Tell you what, you get some sleep and I'll put away the stuff. Can't have you falling asleep and letting random assholes walk away with our stuff."

After that, the truck was unloaded in under an hour and Andre was fast asleep in Irene's room which was just behind her as she kept watch. He figured he was safer while he slept if he was closer to us, so we could get him if we need him without having to go all the way down the stairs and across the parking lot.

And good news for me, I finished just in time for me to enjoy a thirty-minute dinner break with Irene; who made me pray before I could eat. Something I haven't done in several years like the heathen my parents claim I am.

It was a couple of pre-made sandwiches, I didn't know turkey on rye could make such a good sandwich, we found at the grocery store, two Sprites, and two medium sized bags of Doritos. I had Spicy Sweet Chili and she went for the Original flavor.

Plain, but respectable.

We also got food for Andre, but that disgusting animal told me on the ride up from Atlanta that he only likes _Cool Ranch_ Doritos. Suffice it to say we will _not_ be dining together until he learns that Cool Ranch is the inferior Dorito 100% of the time.

As I playfully throw a piece of leftover lettuce into Irene's hair, she had no idea that there was at least four pieces in her hair at this point, we both see a pair of headlights come up. Headlights that suddenly go off once the car gets close enough and pulls into the parking lot.

I immediately take the rifle from her and tell her to go into the room and wake Andre up quietly. We were prepared for this to either be Glenn checking out the motel or someone else trying to move in on our turf.

The cars and the trucks were locked, as were the doors to all the rooms and offices, and the stockpile of weapons we owned were in the same room the Andre was sleeping in. The only signs that someone was here, or had been here, were the dead walkers still lying on the ground where I had killed them.

After the person in the car got out, I was able to see them much more clearly. They looked like they could be Glenn, but I wasn't going to stake my life on it.

From behind me, I heard the sound of Andre getting his own rifle ready and then his soft footsteps making their way over to me. "What's the plan?" Irene also silently moves to right behind me, her wavering breaths telling me how nervous she is.

"I'm going to go talk to whoever they are, Andre you cover me in case anything happens." I get up slowly and make my way to the stairs. As I do, I sling the rifle over my shoulder and take out the silenced pistol.

There was no sense in shooting without it if it was just going to attract the attention of every walker for miles around.

Right now, he's just checking the dead walkers to make sure they're really dead which gives me the opportunity to catch him off guard. The sound of my gun being cocked should do.

I have to say, if I'd been less experienced with a gun I would have probably shot him. He surprised the hell out of me by turning around as fast as he did. Him being Glenn, thankfully. I honestly wasn't in the mood to see if today ended up as the day I'd end up shooting another person.

"Don't you _fucking_ move." Even though I knew about him from the game, I wouldn't take any chances. As far as I knew, there were no do overs here. Even the unlikeliest of outcomes could kill me. And that included Glenn here.

"I-I-I didn't know anyone was here, I swear!" I walked closer. He shrank away, terrified, as I did. "The people I'm with, we're just looking for supplies… _please_ …don't shoot me…I-I…"

I stopped, feeling bad for putting what sounded like the fear of God in him.

A heavy sigh escapes me. "Listen man…just raise your arms and don't move, alright? I'm going to check you for any weapons and then we'll see where we go after that. You understand?" He nodded hesitantly.

Patting him down, I found nothing hidden anywhere. Aside from the handgun tucked into the back of his pants and the extra clip in his front right pocket, I mean.

I could see his hands trembling at his sides. Maybe talking calmly to him would help to ease the tension. "So, what's your name?" I took a step back, gun at ready to fire at a moment's notice.

He took a breath. "Glenn. Glenn Rhee. W-what's yours?"

"I'm Penny. Up there behind me with the rifle still aimed at your head is Andre and Irene. So, Glenn, what do you want to happen next? No, wait, what do you _think_ is going to happen next?"

He didn't move his head, but I could see his eyes trying to find the two crouched figures hidden in the dark. After a few seconds his eyes widened, and he looked back towards me. "Uh, I don't know. Are you going to shoot me?"

I smiled. "Maybe." He paled. "Or maybe I'll just ask you a few questions." He was still pale but could see he was slightly less so.

"You said before that you're out here because your people were low on supplies and needed more. How many people are in your group?" He ran the numbers in his head. "Including me and the ones we just let in earlier today, t-ten."

"Okay. Are you guys the bunch who's trapped in that drug store?" He looked hesitant to answer but ultimately nodded his head. "Who's in your group? Old people? Children? Or are there just young people like you?"

He turned his head away, silently choosing to not give me an answer. I 'hum' in contemplation. "How about this. Are they the type of people who wouldn't even come looking for you if you were to call out to them for help?"

"They'd come looking for me." Immediate response. "W-we're a group. We have to s-stick together."

I smile, knowing that to be the truth. I'm glad he sticks to the character I know him as. "Final question." He looks almost relieved to hear that. As well as terrified.

"Are you with the bunch of idiots who got themselves trapped in that corner drug store?" His silence was all the confirmation I needed. "Well that wasn't very smart of you guys. I mean, have you _seen_ the size of that crowd of walkers on the other side of your front door?"

Glenn sighed resignedly. "It's why I came out here by myself, one person makes less noise than three or four would, you know?" I nod. Accidental loud sounds were why three quarters of both the show's and the game's characters die. "So, what happens now? Are you still going to kill me?"

Glenn was hesitant to ask, looking subtly at my gun a few times. But he's not as subtle as he thinks he is. "Look," I put the gun in my holster. "I'm a cop and so is Andre up there. We weren't going to shoot you." Not unless we had to, anyway. "I only said that 'cause people these days aren't very trustworthy."

You could see the relief in his eyes once I said we were cops. It looks like people still valued having police around. Or at least Glenn did. That's good to know. Maybe I could use it to my advantage when I meet with the main group.

"Come on," I turned around and led him to where Irene and Andre were. "we have a lot to talk about and not much time to talk about it if we're going to try and get your friends away from that store safely."

Andre still had the gun in hand and Irene had what looked like a butcher's knife in her hand. I smiled a little at how it shook ever so slightly despite the white knuckles she had from gripping it as hard as she was.

"Guys, this is Glenn." I turned to Glenn. "Glenn, Andre and Irene. Andre's a cop and Irene is a…survivor." Said survivor blushes a bit when I say that. So cute.

Andre gives Glenn a once over before finally walking over and shaking his hand. "I'm glad I didn't have to shoot you. You don't look like someone I'd want to shoot." I laughed at the implication that there is, in fact, someone who looks like a person Andre would want to shoot. A little messed up, but funny.

Irene settled for simply waving at him from afar. I guess she's still wary of him. I wonder why she isn't like that with Andre and me. Is it because I saved her? Hm~

"As it turns out, Glenn here is with those people who're stuck at that drug store we were talking about." The two of them nod and we all turn to face Glenn. Andre questioned him about what kind of people he was with. Irene looked like she wanted to ask something as well but was afraid to. I also threw in some questions about what they had to offer skill set wise.

The four of us soon came to an understanding, making me glad I didn't have to shoot or otherwise hurt him. It was nice when things worked out.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey everybody! Worked super hard on this chapter, so please enjoy the read. Leave a review if you so wish and I will see you all in the next chapter._

 _Bye~_

Glenn sat in the drivers' seat of his car, waiting for me to finish talking with Andre. I wanted to be out of ear shot when I spoke to him. "Remember, we don't know these people. I want you to be prepared for anything. The world's gone to shit and I have a feeling that a lot of people have gone with it."

"Right." And then I got a hug. And while I hadn't expected it, I appreciated how comforting it was. It was like a reminder that I wasn't in this alone. I doubly appreciated the second one coming in from behind.

Normally I'd think about how weird it is for virtual strangers to give each other hugs, but the apocalypse just has a way of bringing people together like that, you know?

The four of us had decided that Irene and Andre would stay at the motor inn while Glenn and I drove into town to pick up Lee and his group; soon to be _our_ group hopefully. The plan is that once we get into town and pick them up, all but two of us would head back to the inn.

Me and whoever the other person is, preferably Carley or Lee, would then stick around and put as grab as many things as we could before heading back to the motor inn ourselves. We already had a shit ton of supplies, but it never hurts to have more.

The three-person hug broke apart, Andre and Irene moving into the watch positions they were in before and I got into the passenger side seat. I buckled up, locked the doors, and motioned for Glenn to go.

There was still a lot of time left before anything bad would happen to any relevant persons, if I was accurately keeping track of the events from the game, so there was no real rush to get them out safely. Still, I couldn't help but feel slightly anxious the entire drive up.

I was about to alter things in a major way. Introducing three unknowns to the equation, one of whom was someone with knowledge no one in this world should possess, was bound to change the game in a major way.

Though, the world around me was hardly a game anymore.

The ride wasn't as awkwardly silent as I imagined it would be. Glenn was quite the conversationalist once you got him going. We talked mostly about what he and I did before the dead began to walk.

He told me that before he was a pizza delivery man in Atlanta, he lived with in Michigan with his family. I didn't know that he had any sisters, or maybe I did once and just don't remember now. Either way, I'm kind of sad now because he probably won't get to see them again.

Honestly, it was the only information I got out of him once he brought up his family. He seemed to just deflate. But I was quick to distract him with everybody's favorite subject: Me!

But, I've decided that when it comes to talking about where I'm from I'll just tell Glenn and everybody else that I'd rather not talk about it. I haven't had enough time yet to create an airtight background for myself, so I won't risk it.

Thus, I've expertly shied away from almost anything having to do with where I'm from and who I am; aside from my name and the fact that I'm a police officer.

I told him that when I figured out the world was ending, I looted an entire neighborhood and hauled ass to Macon with another cop I just so happened to come across. Then I explained that Andre and I met Irene once we got to the motor inn.

I would have also told him about the specific plans I had for the motor inn, but by then we'd already driven into town and spotted the herd of walkers in the distance.

"Wait, hold up." I held up a hand and he stopped the car. "Glenn, I think we should get out here. The noise from the engine is going to catch the attention of every walker in sight." He thought about it for a minute before cutting the engine and opening his door.

"Okay, let's get this over with as quickly as possible then. I don't like looking at them for too long. They're creepy." I nodded in agreement, also getting out of the car.

"Here," I hand him my knife. "Loud noises and the fact that they have a unique sense of smell is what is what makes them hard to get by. Loud noises draw them in, easily making groups more often than not, and the way they pick up the scent of the living keeps them from tearing each other apart. The perfect pack animal, in a way."

"So…we should use a knife…because it doesn't make any noise?" I smile and ready my pistol. "Correct. Of course, handguns with silencers on them work even better." With that, I lead the both of us towards the herd.

As we approach, I take out the herd's stragglers first. Glenn's main job, at the moment, is to watch my back for any I don't see. Several alleyways on either side of us are perfect for them to hide in until the worst possible moment. Such is the way of the walking dead in both the game _and_ the show.

Soon the stragglers were dealt with and I could finally start taking care of the main group. It consisted of about twenty walkers, easy to take care of as things stand but nothing to get cocky over. There was a reason it was the arrogant and careless who died first during any encounters with the herd.

I knew that walkers had a good sense of hearing, so I wasn't surprised that the ones nearby had heard when I took one of them down. After that first walker collapsed, I tried my hand at taking them down quickly.

Out of the corner of my eye I see that Glenn had, at some point, taken enough initiative to go around and double check my work. 'A good stab in the head and they're definitively dead'. Which gives me some relief because every zombie movie, tv show, game, and comic book ever made has the same exact message: it never hurts to be cautious, especially when dealing with the undead.

It took a couple of minutes, and an unpleasant surprise from a walker who appeared to have only taken one to the left side of its face rather than its head, but Glenn and I managed to clear the street. As the last walker fell, I could still hear Glenn stabbing them. It was a morbidly comforting sound; until it suddenly stopped.

"You good, Glenn?" I called out to him, trying my best to ignore the gagging. Hopefully he wasn't going to throw up too much. If he's like me then he's going to feel hungry afterwards, don't judge me, and I don't think there's much food in the drug store for him to munch on.

As if on cue, I can hear him retching all over the sidewalk. It seems like he needs to build up a tolerance for things like this. Him and the rest of the world.

I go over to him and rub his back as he continues to gross me out. I won't lie, I honestly considered just going inside and leaving him here to finish. I _hate_ anything and everything to do with vomit. The smell alone is enough to make me want to gag.

After a minute, he settles down and pulls himself together.

"I…I'm good…just…do you have any gum? My mouth tastes really bad." Sadly, I don't. But what I do have is advice. "No. But! I do have some advice for you." He looks up at me. "Don't think of them as people."

A confused look. "The walkers. You see them as people, but they're not. They're just people _shaped_." His brows furrow. "Walkers are nothing more than a virus or something equally terrible killing them and then taking over the basic capabilities of their bodies."

"Trust me, Glenn." I place a hand on his shoulder. "They may have been people once…but they're not anymore." We stood there in silence until he was ready.

I took the knife out of his hand and we walked over to the gate. It was unlocked. And that meant that Lee had gotten out and searched his brother for the keys. In the game, Glenn was rescued before Lee went and got the keys. But now, Glenn had checked in safely at the motor inn, he hadn't mentioned me, Irene, or Andre at my request, and caused Lee to get them earlier.

At this, I hurry to the door and raise my arm, ready to begin knocking semi-frantically. I want to introduce myself before the alarm goes off and alerts all the walkers I didn't get. Which is considerably more than just the twenty I did.

My knocks are firm, and rhythmic in a way that a walker can't mimic; imagine the most cliché secret knock you can think of…yes, _that_ one. "Open up, the walkers are gone! Glenn and I took care of them!" Speaking of, I put the safety back on and the place my gun in the holder. The actual silencer goes in my pocket.

From inside the store, I could hear several people whispering harshly to each other. Their voices weren't loud enough for me to hear everything, but certainly enough to distinguish who was speaking.

It sounded like they were discussing whether or not to open the door. I'm pretty sure Kenny, Doug, and Lee are arguing the fact that they owed me twice over. Once for clearing out the walkers and twice for seemingly bringing Glenn back to them.

On the other side of that conversation was Larry and Lilly. Larry's arguing that I was probably lying about being with Glenn. He also thinks that clearing out that many walkers by myself, under the assumption that Glenn wasn't with me, means that while fighting and beating the odds I must've been bitten at least once.

I was suddenly pushed to the side as Glenn begins to angrily pound on the door. "Somebody open the goddamn door already!" I would've laughed at his willingness to yell so loudly despite being out in the open had his voice not broken towards the end.

Getting these constant reminders that these "characters" aren't any less real than I am, and that includes their reactions to traumatic experiences, are starting to get really fucking annoying.

The door swung open and there was Doug, eager to see Glenn and apparently happy to see me too. Did that mean he believed me? How incredibly…endearing…and unbelievably naïve! A solemn declaration to save Doug briefly crosses my mind.

"Quickly, get inside." He motions for us to follow him before retreating into the store. As I walk in, making sure to close the door behind me, I notice almost immediately only Doug, and maybe Katjaa if I'm reading her facial expression correctly, seems remotely okay with me being here.

The others seem wary. Not unexpected considering Larry and Lilly are…well, Larry and Lilly. Lee was probably worried more for Clementine's safety than anything else so that wasn't much of an obstacle. The same probably goes for Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck.

As for Carley…I'm not too sure. It's probably a fifty-fifty chance that I win her over; though I'll bet on me winning her over in the end.

Once the front door was closed and locked I turned to Doug. I held out a hand and was about to thank him for letting us in, because I honestly didn't think we'd be let in so easily, but the sound of a gun being cocked froze me in place.

"Don't move. Either of you!" I turned my head to see Carley, I'd half expected it to be Lilly or Larry, aiming her handgun at us. "We need to check them for bites. There were at least two dozen of those _things_ outside and I don't believe for a second that they could just take care of them on their own like that."

I look at Glenn and shrug. "I don't know what to tell you. Glenn and I drove up, I put most of them down and Glenn got the ones I didn't. Nothing _too_ unbelievable." Glenn just nods, I think he won't be quite the same for a little while longer. I went through the same thing my first year on the beat; more accurately the first time I had to put someone down.

"I don't believe you. If one of those things is enough to take out seven people," A rather specific number. "then what chance in hell did you two have!?" This is when Lee steps in.

He steps forward, keeping Clementine behind him as he does. "Before we start aiming guns and accusing people of being bit, let's just slow down and talk things out. There's no need to threaten them."

Lee places a hand on Carley's arm, gently forcing her to lower the gun. She sighs, and lets her arms drop to her side. Larry, though, isn't too happy with this. "What're you doing, Carley!? If they're infected, they're going to turn into one of those creatures when we're asleep and _eat_ us!"

After that little outburst, and when things were starting to cool down too, Larry got into it with Lee and Kenny, Katjaa and Carley tried to run interference with Lilly, Glenn and I stood quietly, and Doug led the kids to the other room.

That's another point in Doug's favor, because I _am_ keeping count.

How long it took exactly isn't too clear to me. But it did take a while for them to realize that I'd already stripped down to my underwear. I suppose it's lucky that I had something only mildly slutty on instead of the usual thong; and _only_ a thong.

Interestingly enough, I notice that aside from Glenn, who is shyly looking away from me as he too gets undressed, Lilly is the only one who's seemed to notice my less than fully dressed appearance. I'm almost certain she was watching the entire time I got undressed.

What's even more interesting is the way she's staring at me. Not just looking for a bite mark or sizing me up as a potential threat, no, Lilly is straight up eyeballing me. I wonder if she's looking at my stomach or somewhere a little further south.

I "look up" from where my gaze just was and meet Lilly's eyes. I can't help myself and send her an amused smile and an inviting wink. Of course, my smile can only widen further once I see both a blush and a heavy scowl begin to make their way across her face.

It's unexpectedly flattering, and slightly nerve wracking, that her interests go beyond what little was shown in the game. To think that she was a lesbian the whole time. Who would've guessed?

Now that I've gotten my fill of fun, what little there is to have here, I take the opportunity to adjust my underwear and then call the still squabbling group of children to order. "Hey! SSSSHHHHHHH!" Everything goes silent in an instant. Heh, I can't believe that worked.

"Hey! Look," I spin around with my arms raised. "no bites or scratches or anything. So, let's just calm down before one of gets an aneurysm." Glenn also spins around, showing that he, too, is clear of any bites and scratches.

"F-fine, we believe you! Just put your damn clothes back on already!" That would be Lilly trying to recover from our 'moment'. I can barely hold back the temptation to tease her just a little more; maybe I'll take a little longer to put my clothes back on. I'm kind of curious as to what's going to push her off the edge.

I also notice she isn't the only one who's more than a little uncomfortable with two people just standing around in their underwear. "Well, if I really have to." Sighing as I bend down to pick up my pants, I subtly turn to Glenn and smirk mischievously.

It takes a second, but he picks up on what I'm doing and shakes his head. I wonder if he realizes now what kind of group he's aligned his people to if I'm the one that's heading them. And I _am_ the head of my small group of three; an unspoken but understood fact.

By the time all of my clothes are back on, everyone save for Lilly and Carley is pointedly looking away. Carley because she still has her gun ready to go in case I try something while the others have their heads turned and Lilly…well we all know why Lilly's still looking at my amazing bod.

"Now that we've gotten all that arguing out of your systems, I think it's about time for all of us to introduce ourselves. Doug, get out here! Bring the kids with you!" The door to the office opens and Doug comes out with Duck and Clementine trailing behind him. I almost feel bad he didn't get to see me in my underwear when everyone else did.

Oh well, we've got to spend the next few months living together anyways so I'm sure he'll get a chance too. And as for why I can go around half naked without embarrassment…I guess I just don't have any shame. After all, yesterday's morals and constraints don't really apply today now that no one has a guarantee that they'll get to see tomorrow. So, yeah.

"I'll go first. My name is Penny, and _I_ am a cop…was a cop. Now~ you!" I point to Lee. He seems taken aback but goes for it anyway.

"I'm, uh, Lee. Before all this happened, I was a history professor at the University of Georgia." He seemed to lose focus for a second before pushing forward. "And this here is Clementine. Say hi." Sheepishly, the little girl peered out from behind him and waved an arm. "Hi."

She was even more adorable in person! Though, that'll only really last until the end of the first season. Come seasons two through four, Clem becomes a certified badass. But for now, she's just a scared little girl relying on strangers to care for her. Man, she was _incredibly_ lucky that Lee had found her before someone else did.

"Hey there, cutie." She gave me a small smile and retreated to her spot behind Lee. Tearing my eyes off of her, it's almost unbelievable how this kid gives out the same kind of helpless atmosphere that Irene does, I move on to Kenny and Katjaa.

"I'm Kenny, this is my boy Kenny Jr., but we just call him Duck," He gestures to the boy sitting on the ground and avidly flipping through an auto shop magazine; though I'm pretty sure he's just looking at the pictures. "and this here is my beautiful wife Katjaa."

I nod absently, still wondering if Duck was actually reading the magazine or not. "We had been driving back down to Florida, we live in Fort Lauderdale, from Katjaa's sister in Memphis when the world just up and ended."

Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten that they were from Florida, which reminds me of the whole problem we're going to face later with the boat, and also about their trip to Tennessee. That's where the whole gas station part of Kenny's backstory comes in. "Damn, so you weren't even home when it happened? When did you first notice them? The walkers, I mean."

"I'd been getting gas when this guy comes out of nowhere and tries to abduct Duck right in front of me. I thought he was one of them creeps that likes preying on kids and I was on the fucker in two seconds."

I snort. "You mean to tell me that you beat the shit out of a walker with your bare hands? Haha holy shit! That's…that's impressive."

Katjaa nods her head. "Kenny's always been quick to action when it comes to me and Duck." I turn to the woman, furrowing my brows. If I remember correctly Katjaa's from Belgium. Hopefully I can score some brownie points. "Your accent…are you from Belgium?" She looked surprised at my 'guess'.

"Uh, yes. I was born there. Have you been?" I shake my head. "Sadly, no. But a roommate of mine in college was Belgian and by the time her lease had ended I had heard her accent enough to recognize another Belgian when I heard one."

"I guess I'm next, then?" I nod. "Well, I'm Carley and I should probably apologize for threatening you with a gun earlier. Both of you. But things being the way they are, I think it's at least a little bit justified." I raise an eyebrow. "Isn't it?" I raise both brows tilt my head to the side.

"So, Carley, who were you and what did you do _before_ you went around aiming guns at cops?" She chuckles weakly and shrugs. "Before this, I was a reporter for WABE in Atlanta. I covered everything from local festivals like the one that was happening right here in Macon to war zones in other countries."

"That's interesting. Any wars I'd know about?" Carley smiled. "Probably not. Usually the story gets killed before I can do anything with it. The media today is all about what the people in charge want the public to see instead of what they _should_ see. No room for real journalism anymore."

"Well, that's what happens when the top level executives of that industry forsake the integrity of the news for profit. It's also what happens when the news becomes an industry." Carley seemed relieved to hear me say that.

"I'm glad to hear that someone other than me realizes that. Even if it's not much of an issue anymore." Maybe she thought I'd just brush her off? Some people just don't want to listen.

Larry is the next person I cast my gaze on and already I'm dreading what he might say to me. It could either be something horribly accusatory or incredibly dismissive. "What the hell are you looking at?"

Or he could just be a straight up dick. This behavior already being something that bothers the others is emphasized by the fact that everyone except for Lilly and Larry had gone off to do their own thing the moment he started taking. Though Carley was close by to keep an eye on me.

"No, nothing. Just thought you might want to share something about yourself. I hear all the other cool kids are doing it. So why not join in on the fun?" He was about to say something, maybe an insult of some kind, but Lilly gave him a nudge with her arm. In response, Larry grunted and walked off to stew in a corner.

Hmm. I want them all to like me, so it makes everything I need to do go down that much more smoothly. Also, because they're all interesting people I really want to hang out with. It's going to be hard to get on all of their good sides right away, and that goes double for Larry the crab ass over there.

But at least now I get to talk to Lilly one on one. She was kind of a bitch in the early days, so I'm not expecting much to come out of the conversation, but the way she was behaving earlier is something I want to see more of.

Although I must admit, once you played the game a few times you can kind of see why she acted the way she did. An enormous amount of stress from all the shit she had to deal with on top of the damn apocalypse just took its toll on her.

With Larry starting fights, there not being enough supplies to keep everyone in the group fed making her choose who gets to eat and who doesn't, and of course the threat of both people and walkers hovering over them all, it's no surprise she had been so vocal with her complaints.

"It's alright, that's fine. I'm sure I'll get to know him in time. How about you then? You seem like the kind of girl I'd want to know." While I went to work on seduci- I mean, _charming_ my way into Lilly's good graces, I could feel like there was something I was forgetting. Something important.

Sighing heavily through her nose, "…Lilly. My name's Lilly." She points in the direction that Larry is. "That's my dad, Larry. He can be a grouch sometimes, but that's only because he's trying to keep the both of us safe."

I nod. "I get it. My aunt's the same way with her kids. Though, he shouldn't act that way for too long. Alienating the both of you from the group is all he'll end up doing." She furrowed her brows to which I shrug. "It's true. You know the last time I talked to any of my cousins? Thanksgiving, 2002. That's a long ass time, right?"

Her scowl loosens a bit and I can see that there's a possibility she's experienced the same thing but from the other side of it. Ah, this is getting a little too heavy for me.

"Anyway," I hold out my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lilly. And I hope we can get along from now on," She grabs it and I take step forward, closing the distance between us. "because I have the feeling we're going to be working together closely in the coming days."

And there it is. That look I love seeing so much in a woman; absolute uncertainty. It only lasted a moment, however, as I let go of her hand and step back. "Actually," I can see her let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I'm glad that came up. I need to speak with you guys about why I'm really here."


	5. Chapter 5

_I hope you guys enjoy this._ _I'll see you all in the next chapter!_

Bye~

"So, after a little chat, the four of us realized that the group of people Glenn was with and the group of people we were thinking of rescuing are one and the _same_. After that it was just a matter of what happened once we finished clearing out the walkers."

"We're grateful and everything, don't get me wrong. It's nice to not have to worry about a group of those…walkers…right on our doorstep. But nobody does anything like that, puts themselves int that much danger, for a bunch of people she doesn't even know. I mean, why would you take out that many walkers just for us?"

This time Glenn spoke. "It's because her group needs us and what we offer as much as we need them and what they offer."

I could see that Kenny, Lilly, Larry, and surprisingly Lee weren't sure that they _needed_ our help at the moment. Well, aside from the shortage of food and water. And right now, they're probably thinking that they could just go out and scavenge for what they need for the next few weeks until Macon runs dry. But they'd be wrong.

He looked them each in the eye, trying to get his point across. "If we choose to stay here and wait for the military or the government or whoever else to come and save us, we're not going to make it. Maybe we'll be okay for the next week or so, but what happens when other people try their luck too?"

The rest of them stood in silence. "They're going to have been holed up in whatever building or hole in the wall they're currently in and they'll be much less likely to share what they find if it means their own people get less. They might even try and take what we have if there isn't enough."

Lee breaks the tense silence with a question. "So, uh, if we do agree to come together, what exactly is the plan?" Lilly steps forward with her own question. "And what do we have to offer each other? Other than a larger group size, I mean."

What do _they_ offer _us_? That's an easy question to answer.

"Other than a larger group size? You'd be giving us your unique skills. Glenn told me what he knows about you," He gets several accusatory glares and awkwardly looks away from them "and I love just about all of what I've heard. I mean, each of you has something unique that would be invaluable if you were to join and put it to good use."

It occurs to me that I sort of sound like I'm recruiting for a cult.

Doug has his technical knowledge of electronics, Carley knows how to handle a gun, Larry has experience with firearms and other military equipment that we'll get alongside Mark at the air base, Katjaa is as close to a doctor as we'll get aside from some basic first aid I know, Lee has experience in teaching so I can probably find something for him to do with that, Kenny has his knowledge of how to repair and maintain cars, and Lilly…I'm not sure what she can do specifically but if it comes down to it I'll just have to make her my personal bed warmer.

…Yeah, that sounds nice.

"Other than that, you'll be the extra hands we need to help get things up and running. The planting, the construction, the wiring, and everything else in between." I hold my hands out, definitely feeling like a cult leader right now. "And that about covers what I expect to get from you."

Trying to think of what we had to offer them, on the other hand, was harder than I thought it'd be. I had to offer them something enticing enough to get this group merger underway as soon as possible. Something more than just the regular food and shelter anyone with a shack and candy bar can offer.

"As for what I can offer you…well, for one thing," I take out the silencer from my pocket and hold it up. "I'm pretty sure I'm one of the only people in the nearby vicinity with this bad boy right here." I get a couple of blank stares and realize that some of them don't know what it is I'm holding.

Though Larry and Carley seem to understand what I've got because of their time spent in war zones alongside, or in service to in Larry's case, the military. "For those of us who don't know what this is, I present to you one of the most precious things you'll find nowadays." I hold for dramatic pause. "A silencer."

"You may be asking yourself 'what's that for and how is it going to help us?' The answer: It's how Glenn and I took care of the walkers in front of the store without attracting the attention of every other walker in Macon." That's when they finally find it in them to nod in understanding.

"It mutes the sound of your gunshot so that only walkers a few feet away from you will hear it. Something many people would go nuts for what with how sound sensitive walkers are." Katjaa raise her hand. An odd way of asking for permission to speak, but whatever.

"Ah, yes? Katjaa?" I look over to her.

"What do you mean when you say that the walkers are sound sensitive?" Oh, that's right. This is still in the early days of the apocalypse. Nobody really knows much about the walkers yet. They're all just trying to survive right now.

"I take it then that you all don't really know how walkers…come to be?" Shaking heads in all directions and I furrow my brow. How best to handle this…uhhh…ah! "I…will offer you that information…if you join up with my group!"

Uncertain looks are passed between them. Now I'm getting a little frustrated because it shouldn't be this hard to get them to say yes!

I gave them my best smile. "So, let's see. So far I've offered you the ability to take down walkers with both stealth _and_ ease. As well as information that, I personally think, someone wouldn't last any longer than a few weeks without. What else do you need us to be able to provide in order to be convinced?" I asked the last question a bit incredulously.

Lilly starts to open that pretty little mouth of hers to speak, and wow I am super attracted to her, but I shut her down. "But just remember," My smile drops, and I get serious for a second. I think my temper is starting to get the best of me here. "getting greedy these days is bound to get someone killed sooner rather than later."

That's when they notice the gun in my hand, and whatever she was about to say dies in her throat. Almost immediately my smile is back and possibly much more cheerful than before. Shit, what can I do to make them forget about the part where I got annoyed at their indecision and took out my gun?

I think for a few seconds, looking around the room and spotting Clementine quietly walking towards the bathroom before it hits me. Thank you, Universe, for giving me a way out of this! I knew you weren't just a rationalization for when things inexplicably go my way and I have no way of explaining as to how or why.

"Folks let me just make this plain and simple. You need to believe me when I say that what I'm offering you is _the_ best offer you will ever get from this point forward. And by that, I mean an offer from anyone who's not me is one that is too good to be true."

I walk towards the bathroom as I speak, I make quick work of putting the silencer back on my gun while doing so, though they just might think I'm heading for Clementine if the way Lee and Kenny trying to get closer to me is any indication.

"Penny, what are you-" Glenn and the others look ready for a fight as I get closer to the girl. But that apprehension turns to relief and then back to horror as I move past Clementine, stopping her from moving any closer to the bathroom.

"Go back to Lee, sweetheart." She looked up at me with her beautiful brown eyes, I swear I could eat this kid up she was so darn cute, before nodding and heading back over to a visibly relieved Lee.

I lift my right foot and kick the bathroom door in, I can hear Duck's startled gasp and an adorable 'Eep' from Clementine, subsequently knocking down the walker who was inside. Without a word, I shoot it twice in the head and turn back to the people behind me.

"Why the hell didn't anyone think to check the bathroom? This thing could've eaten you while you were sleeping." I shake my head. "Doesn't matter. What matters now is what your decision is." I remove the silencer and place both it and the gun back where they belong.

Several minutes of argument later, mostly between Larry, Lilly, Kenny, and Lee about whether or not it was safe to trust me, they'd made their choice. "Lee, what'd you guys decide? Are you all staying here or are you coming with me?"

"If you mean what you say about having somewhere safe with food, water, and protection, then you can count us in." They agreed! I could jump for joy right now if I wasn't going to look stupid doing it!

Despite this I find myself jumping in the air with a fist pump. " _Yes_!" I clap my hands together and point at no one in particular. "Who else is feeling as amazing as I am right now?" I breathe in, and back out.

"Okay, alright. I got it out of my system and I'm cool now." My grin, however, refuses to go away as several of them chuckle at my performance. "All that's left is getting back to the motor inn and having you all make yourselves at home."

Kenny spoke up before I could get into what we needed to do before leaving, however. "We're with you and all about going back with you, but there's still something we need to do before we head out." I tilt my head in confusion.

"We just need to get into the pharmacy over there," He gestures to the inaccessible area of the store chock full of medicines we'd probably need in the future. "We're mostly interested in the nitroglycerin pills that Larry needs. His heart ain't doing so good."

That's right! Larry's not going to make it for very long if we run out of those pills. Ugh, I'll have to cross that depressing bridge when I get to it. "After that, we can get the hell out of here and go to wherever it is this place you're talking about is at."

"Okay. But make sure to grab everything that isn't nailed down. We can never have enough medicine." I wonder how things are going to play out without the large crowd of walkers in front of the store.

Just like in the game the alarm went off once the door was opened and Lee stepped inside.

Taking charge, Kenny started giving orders once the initial shock died down. "I'm gonna get the truck pulled 'round back." He turns towards Katjaa. "Honey take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me."

As she took Duck and ran towards the office, Kenny turned to Glenn. "Glenn, when you hear me honking in the alley, start getting people out of here." The man nodded and went to grab what he could from the pharmacy.

Finally, he turned towards us. "Doug, Carley, Lee, and Penny. You guys make sure our defenses stay up 'til then. Got it?" We each nodded our heads and went to do exactly that while the others grabbed what they could before Kenny started honking the horn. While Doug and Lee manned the doors and windows, Carley came over to try and help.

But I grabbed her arm and dragged her with me to the pharmacy. "There aren't that many walkers at the moment so the two of them should be enough to hold things down for the moment. You and I are going to grab whatever the others haven't and load it onto the truck."

She went to argue but I was already grabbing cans, bottles, and medicines off of the shelves.

There was more to grab then I thought there'd be, so it looks like I might need to come back here sometime soon for the rest. We ran to the truck as fast as we could and dropped off what I needed to before I decided to check on things at the front.

By the time we got back to Doug and Lee, they were starting to struggle with keeping the doors closed. While I think of ways to take out the number of walkers outside without being forced to let them in, I take out my gun and go through the inconvenient process of putting the silencer on.

"Carley!" I hear several plastic bottles of pills being dropped as I called out for her, she must've tried to get in another run to the truck. I think I'd laugh if it wasn't a life and death situation. "See if you can find something that we can put through these door handles! A broom, a mop, or anything else that'll hold!"

"Got it!" She called back.

As Lee and Doug began to feel the weight and force of the group of walkers pushing on the doors to get in, I shot through the openings in the door hoping to get a few. In the game most of the walkers looked to be about the same height and weight, as far as I remember, but this wasn't the game. This was real life where fat and muscular people existed and weighed a shit ton.

We can't hold them back for long, Carley!" No response from Carley. Dammit, I seriously underestimated the number of walkers this alarm would bring. Me taking care of all the ones from before did nothing but buy us a little time.

I hear the sound of wood breaking and look over to see the unguarded windows on our sides being ripped apart. "Fuck, how did we forget about the windows!?" I run over to the one closest to being taken down.

I groan in frustration as I load my last clip into my gun. I'll need to use the knife instead. "Carley, get your slow ass over here already! We need help!" After taking care of the ones almost inside and getting blood all over my hands in the process, I focus on the ones coming in from the other window. Three shots and they're down.

Finally, Carley shows up with exactly what I asked for. Both a broom and a mop. It won't last long but it should last long enough to allow all of us to make it out. "Sorry it took so long. It wasn't easy braking down the pharmacy's supply closet."

"It's fine. Carley, grab your gun and-" I find myself being cut off as a high-pitched shriek pierces the air. Oh no. "Clementine!" Lee rushes over to where the shriek came from, with me hot on his tail. He almost slips but I grab his arm and keep him steady.

We get to her in time to see a walker with parts of its jaw missing crawling towards her. "Lee, get the girl!" I aim and fire just as Lee picks Clementine up in a swinging motion, killing it before it bit anyone.

But it doesn't make sense, didn't Katjaa take the children with her? Or…did she only take Duck? Kinda fucked up to not think of the only other child in our group. I look over at Clementine and see her shaking in Lee's arms on the verge of tears.

And while I would like nothing more than to comfort her, I still need to deal with saving Carley and- "Doug?" I look back at the window he was supposed to be keeping an eye on and find nothing. No walkers, no wooden defenses, and no Doug. What?

"Carley? Wh-where's Doug?" She looks over to me from where she's holding up her window's defenses herself. "He's by the, _mn_ , other window. You know, I really wouldn't mind some help over here." I run over to her side and shoo her away.

As soon as she moves the wooden barrier falls to the floor and four walkers start trying to get in. I take out one of them and Carley shoots the other three. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a silencer and the shots likely attracted some more of our friends.

I lift the wooden barricade back up and she places herself against it. "If they break the through this admittedly defunct barrier, I want you to let go and give the window space. Decide what to do after you see how many there are."

With a pat on the shoulder I leave Carley to try and see if Doug's been taken. Once I get to his window, I see that Doug _hasn't_ been grabbed. Instead, he pushed the barricade through the window.

But still he was nowhere in sight.

"Doug? Doug!?" I call out. Maybe he went out and around to get to the truck. Honestly, I hope that's what's happened because otherwise I've just gotten someone I really wanted to protect _killed_. Oh fuck, I think I'm having a panic attack.

Lee's still comforting Clementine, and I hate to break up their moment, but I need someone to watch Carley's back. "Lee, go back Carley up, she's by herself. Clementine, sweetheart, I need you to go and hide in that back office. Okay?" They hesitated to follow my command, but I couldn't wait for an answer. And with that, I take a running start and jump out the open window.

"Penny wait!" "What the hell is she doing!?" I can hear them calling after me, but I need to find Doug and I need to make sure I didn't get him killed. Honestly, I never thought that I'd change things so drastically so early on.

There are ten walkers all still trying to get into the store. I take out the first six but run out of bullets. Forced to use the hunting knife, I take out the rest of them. It was easy enough since they weren't even paying any attention to me what with the alarm still going off.

Now that the front was clear, I went around searching for any signs of Doug. "Penny! You okay!? I'm not hearing any of those walkers, but-" I use the cliché from before knock on Carley's window barricade to which she responds.

I laugh tiredly. " I'm good. But I don't see Doug." Carley pauses. "Doug? Why would Doug be out there?" She puts the barrier down, her arms now resting at her sides. Must've been heavier for her than it was for me.

"I think he took out a few walkers with his window's barricade when he was trying to keep them out. I haven't found his body, so I can only hope he managed to get away before something bad happened."

Climbing in through the window, I see that Lee is breaking the mop and the broom into halves. He then puts the them back into the door handles. Smart, and it buys us more time in case any more walkers try and get in through the front.

I also see Lee…and he's talking to Doug. I run up to them.

"Hey man, what happened to you? One minute I see that you're at the window trying to keep the walkers out and the next minute both you and the walkers are gone. Absolutely scared the hell out of me."

He rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed. "I tried pushing them away from the window, hoping that they'd fall back on each other, but when I did, I tripped over a piece of wood and accidentally fell on top of them. After that, I made my way to the back alley and went through the door in that back office."

I smile and laugh. "You crushed them? Heh. Whatever works, right? Anyway, glad to see you haven't…" I remember something and narrow my eyes a bit. "You aren't bit, right? Or scratched?" I quickly check over my shoulder to make sure a stray walker hasn't gotten in while we're distracted.

Doug shakes his head. "Nope. They were slow enough for me to walk around, and most of them were distracted by the alarm. None of them even got near me." I nod slowly. "You…wouldn't mind proving that, right?"

A minute later, Doug has proven to us that he wasn't bitten, and everything was okay again. Though I realize now that asking him to strip in front of Carley wasn't the best way to handle that. But, oh well.

Speaking of Carley, she has no problems voicing her complaints to me. And as she comes over to do so, Lee and Doug conveniently go back to watching the windows. "You're crazy, you know that? No sane person would go and take on so many of those things at once. Especially all by themselves"

I shrugged. "I needed to know if Doug was okay or not. Now that you're all a part of my group it's my job to make sure that we're all safe. It has certain risks, as everything we do from now on does, but it's worth it in the long run."

She gives me a look, of which I find myself feeling scrutinized, before going back to the window. So, what to do next?

I search behind the counter and find paper bags, Lee's parents must've been the old-fashioned type, and grab the stack. Before heading into the pharmacy, I decide to make a quick trip to the bathroom and pick up a little helper.

Knocking on the door and crouching towards the floor, I can hear another 'Eep' from Clementine. This kid is too much. "Clem? You ok?" It would be best to control myself around the impressionable.

The door opens, and she looks through the crack, trying her best to be careful and to not be seen any of those 'monsters' that keep attacking people. "It's okay, Clementine. I took care of all those monsters for you."

The door opens a little wider and she looks around to double check before coming out. "Are they really gone?" I nod. "Of course. For now, at least." I don't think I've ever seen someone turn a different shade before. But Clementine turning a pale white was definitely a first.

"It's fine, though. We're here to protect you." Nothing. "Hey. How would you like to come help me with something? It's an important job and I need someone like you to do it with me. How about it?"

She's about to say yes but suddenly looks past me, likely trying to get permission from Lee who's overheard our conversation and pauses for a second before smiling and nodding enthusiastically.

"Great! We're going to be going on a scavenger hunt for things we need. You ready?" She nods. "Sure." I place a hand on her head and lead her to the pharmacy. It takes about ten minutes, but we manage to pick the place clean.

And while we used a total of seven rather large brown paper bags to our supplies in, some of which needed to be placed into another bag to prevent anything from ripping and spilling, we managed to accomplish what the others could not the first time around.

"Lee, Carley, Doug. Would you mind taking Clementine and the bags to the truck? They're probably waiting on us, and burning precious gasoline doing it. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things. Let me know when you're done."

Unfortunately, the peace we were experiencing wasn't meant to last. The alarm was still ringing, annoyingly, and brought another wave of walkers. Climbing through the windows lowered the amount I needed to kill at one time, but I was getting tired.

Lee came in just as one got a little too close, slamming it with a fire extinguisher. "Where'd you get that?" He whacked another walker in the head. "Found it in the alleyway. It's empty, but efficient."

Huh. That's not something we could do in the game. Might find something useful someday. As Lee and I went to leave, Larry came out of nowhere and managed to knock Lee to the ground before I could stop him.

"Hey! What the hell was that for!?" I go to pick Lee up, but instead find myself moving past him and for a walker that's about to get a mouth full. I turn to help Lee but find that Kenny has taken Larry's place and is the one lifting Lee to his feet.

"I'm not letting anybody get eaten today. Especially a good friend." Those words, that means Lee's already on the path to siding with Kenny over the others. Which means I'll probably need to balance my own choices to balance things.

Maybe Lilly might not end up with such a shit life if I make the right moves.

The three of us made our way back into the office, shutting the door behind us and moving the desk in front of it. As we make to haul ass back to the truck, I make sure to pick up two small souvenirs before leaving the building completely.

We all climb into the truck and speed away from the now walker-infested drug store. Watching the town get farther and farther away gave me a feeling of merriment. So much so that I began to laugh in increasing hysterics.

Those around me in the bed of the pickup, Lilly, Carley, Lee, and Larry, stared at me as if I'd grown a second head. "D-don't look at m-me like that…" I take deep breaths, trying to calm down. "I just took out, like, three dozen walkers and made it out alive! Not even a scratch! I mean, I know for a fact that that's something that should be incredibly difficult for a _team_ of people to do, let alone a single woman."

As the laughter died down Lee, and I held a silent conversation. One that labeled Larry as the one who almost got Lee killed and as someone we needed to straighten out. But since I'm the current de facto leader of this group, maybe I'll form a council like they did in the show, I'll deal with it myself.

I 'told' him as such and he simply nodded. After that, Lee looked at Clementine through the cab's window with relief in his eyes. It gave me a warm feeling to know that he cared for her well-being; a feeling I'm experiencing much more intensely now that I'm seeing first hand.

As we passed by some stray houses, I couldn't help but wonder how Irene and Andre were doing. I'd know soon enough, but I still couldn't help but wonder what kind of future this world had in store for me now that I'd changed things and included additional survivors in the group.

But for now, I'm just glad to know that this motor inn will be well fortified before the week is out. Maybe even sooner if we really put our backs into it; and by 'we' I mean everyone else but me. I honestly hate manual labor and I'll justify doing anything else to get out of it. And I do mean _anything._

So…yeah. I think we're gonna be just fine.


	6. Chapter 6

_The sixth chapter is now out at that marks the end of the chapters I have in my queue. That said, I shall see you all again when next I post! (I was feeling a little theatrical in that last sentence.)_

 _Enjoy the read and leave a review, please!_

 _Bye~_

As we pulled into the motor inn's parking lot, I looked around for Irene and Andre. Hopefully nothing bad happened to them while I was gone. When I spotted them, they were exactly where I had left them; but now Andre had a blue Doritos bag full of treachery and betrayal in his hand!

And he was sharing them with Irene!? Damn traitors!

I turn to Lee. "You think you know someone after bonding with them for seven hours, six of which were side by side in a cramped space, only to have them betray you in the ultimate way." He had no idea what I was talking about.

"Cool Ranch Doritos, Lee. Not even once and definitely not while you're here with me." Shaking my head, I then focus on glaring at Andre. He'll get his one day. Him _and_ Irene.

One by one we got off the truck. Irene stood up and saw us, or maybe she saw me, and excitedly came down the stairs while Andre stayed where he was. It looks like he wasn't taking any chances if the way he was keeping that rifle at the ready was any indication. But it wasn't all that surprising since I'd spent six hours filling his head with the dangers this new world of ours held. Specifically, the dangers that other people posed.

"Penny! Everything went okay?" He raised his rifle. "Or are they here for trouble?" I have to say, I'm glad that Andre has my back like this. It reminds me of my friends on the force back home.

I beckon him over. "We're all good, they're here to stay!" He has a very quick change in attitude as he jumps up, and hurries down the stairs as well.

Glenn, Katjaa, and Doug get out of Glenn's car and make their way towards our truck. Oh, I guess they expect me to say something. Ugh. After everyone gathered around me, and I get tackle hugged by Irene, I sit and let my legs dangle off the back of the pickup.

"Welcome to your new home. This is where we'll be staying for the foreseeable future so I hope you like it. It may not look like much now, but that won't be an issue once we get to work." I look around, trying to think of what comes next in this unplanned speech of mine.

"So…we should probably talk about the basics of, well, the apocalypse. First off, walkers. They never get tired, they never get full, and they're just a general pain in the ass." I can see Lee and Katjaa covering the children's ears so they don't hear me curse. Oops.

"But, they do have a weakness. The brain. You shoot, crush, or stab a walker's head and it'll die. Though, for some reason, it won't die if you simply decapitate it. The brain _has_ to be destroyed." What else? What else?

"There's more than one way to become a walker." Everyone's eyes widen. It's an odd sight when it happens to a crowd of people looking directly at you. "You get bitten, you turn sick, you die, and then you reanimate. That's what it's been for you all so far, right?"

Nods all around. "What if I said: you die, you reanimate." Immediately, they all start talking at once with Kenny's voice booming over the others. "Whoa whoa whoa! What're you sayin'? That we become walkers whether we get bit or not?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Right now, we're all infected with a dormant version of whatever this thing is. After we die, it becomes active and turns us. It's why this thing is as big as it is." My voice gets soft.

Can you imagine? All the people in the world who die daily from accidents, suicides, murders, health issues. They're why this happened in less than a few days. I huff out a hollow laugh. Knowing that this world is full of real people…it makes that information much more heartbreaking.

I take a breath. "Anyway, that's about it on walkers. Moving on to _people._ Now, I'll warn you all. The people you're going to see in the upcoming months are going to be desperate. Hungry, thirsty, tired, and more than willing to kill you over anything that solves those problems."

"Problems, I'm happy to say, we won't have for the next month or so. But that's a double edged sword. It's because we have what we have, and I'll show you what we have in a minute, that people will come for us."

I get off the truck and walk them over to the large moving truck. Placing my hand on the lever and keeping it there, I turn to them. "Before I open this, let me clarify that I won't tolerate hoarding of any kind." I give them all a hard look.

"What we have in this truck belongs to the group. _Not_ the individual. All decisions on how we use our medicine, weapons, and other supplies are not to be made by any one single person. Agreed?"

The others, Larry included, nodded, making this the first thing everyone agrees on. I relax my face and give a small smile. "Okay. Here we go."

Priceless.

That's the word I'd use to describe the looks on each of their faces. And it's not like they don't have a good reason to be stunned. An entire truck filled with supplies they didn't have. Supplies they didn't even know we needed.

It appears that they finally understand that what I had to offer them was nothing short of salvation. You know, maybe I should try and curb my cult leader like tendencies; they're starting to become eerily commonplace.

Lilly is the first to speak, though her smile is somewhat distracting. Mesmerizing, really. "You weren't lying. Y-You're…" I take it upon myself to finish her sentence. "Amazing? Incredible? Sexy, even? Yes, I am all of those things. Thank you for noticing."

Some snickers broke out and Kenny clapped his hands together. "Alright! This is…this is great! We have enough here to survive long enough for the military to come rescue us." And here's where I had to give these people the bad news.

"Kenny…" He tears his eyes off the truck and turns to me. "I hate to burst your bubble man," I speak clearly so that everyone understands. "but there's not going to be anyone coming for us. Ever."

"Well, you don't know that. I'm sure the government is-"

"Absolutely failing to control the situation. As is every government all across the world. Pretty soon, they're going to start using napalm to try and clear the streets of walkers." That brought the mood down. They were really counting on either the government or the military to come save the day.

Carley broke the somber silence. "Look, let's just focus on what we have right now. Shelter, supplies, information, and each other. And honestly, if what Penny says is true, that's more than most of the people alive right now can hope to have in the coming days."

As she spoke, I notice Glenn trying to slip away unnoticed. He was trying to leave. And knowing how it ends up for him on the show if he does, fuck that. At least here he might have a better chance of surviving.

Plus, he and Irene might even get a chance to be together. He'd shown an interest in her in the game, and I noticed him get a sort of glazed over look in his eye when she was running to me earlier.

I catch up with him once he's reached the car and opened the door. He seems almost hesitant to get in. Hearing my footsteps, he turns to face me. "So, you're trying to leave just like that? I mean, I figured with how enthusiastic you seemed about fixing this place up when I first told you about it…"

He closes the door and looks out into dark of the woods. "We were listening to the radio on the way here…they said Atlanta was a Stage Nine catastrophe. I have friends out there, Penny. I have family…I…"

Unable to help myself, I shake my head and punch him hard in the shoulder. "Ow! What the hell Pen- _ow!_ " I punch him again.

"You think you'll be able to find them all by yourself? You think they'd _want_ you to put your life at risk to _maybe_ find them. Glenn…I have family and friends out there too, so I get it. But the last thing I'd ever want is for my younger brother to go out into a world like this looking for me. No." I place a hand on his shoulder; he's shaking a bit.

Opening and closing his mouth, he struggled for the words. "…You think…they'd understand that? That they feel the same way?" I nod. "You told me that they had faith in you when you decided to make it on your own in Atlanta, right? So now it's time for you to have faith in the fact that they're safe and that they want you to be safe as well."

I place my other hand on his free shoulder, forcing him to pay attention to my words. "Glenn…the world as we know it is over. There is nothing coming to save us, and we need to stick together if we're going to survive. We need you, right here with us."

He was quiet for a while after that. Several minutes went by before he moved or said anything. Saying nothing, he opens the car door and reaches in. Damn, guess I didn't change anything. I hope I somehow changed things for him. I hope he- "Help me push this, will you?"

The blank look on my face shows my confusion. "The car. If we push the smaller cars, we can construct a makeshift barrier to keep away any walkers that might wander over here." I smile, and he smirks. It'll take a while, but I can tell that Glenn's going to be fine. Maybe, just maybe, he might just make it out of this alive.

It was getting dark by the time we moved the cars into position, so we decided to unload the truck first thing tomorrow morning. And while I hadn't said anything yet to the others, I was planning to take someone with me tomorrow to go scavenging the local stores.

Chances are I'll probably be taking Lilly. There's a spark between us, and I'd enjoy exploring just how much of a spark there is during the time we'd spend alone together. Either that or I'll just tease her again. Possibly both depending on my mood.

As far as living arrangements went, we all agreed to put the children on the second floor. Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck were placed in the room in the middle, Lee and Clementine now sleep in the room on the right where I found Irene, and I sleep in the room closest to the stairs.

Irene's chosen to stay on the other side of the inn, as far away from that one room as possible. It might be because that's where she was abandoned by her most recent boyfriend. Or maybe it's something else; I respect her choice either way.

Larry, Lilly, Glenn, Andre, and Irene all get their own rooms. Though I'm sure that sooner or later we'll end up with an extra three bedrooms once some of us…pair off. I mean, Lee and Carley obviously like each other, Glenn and Irene might get it on with the right amount of nudging from yours truly, and Lilly and I…we'll be sharing a bed before the month is out.

No doubt about it.

 **Scene Break**

Early in the morning about a week later, I knock on Lilly's door. It takes a couple of knocks but she finally opens up. Her bed head and the drowsy look on her face make me want to do some naughty things to her. "What…what the hell time is it?"

I put my finger to my mouth and lightly push my way inside; thus, officially beginning my mission to make Lilly putty in my eager hands.

"It's really fucking early so this had better be important. What's going on?" I plopped myself down on the bed, soaking in the sight of I now recognize as Lilly in her underwear. In that morning haze of hers she must have forgotten to put clothes on. I think I'll sit on it for now, though, take it all in for as long as I can.

"I'm going on a supply run. If we're going to run this place right, I want to hit some of the stores in Macon. There are things we need that I couldn't find in a suburban neighborhood. Seeds, tools, instructional manuals and guides, propane, and a lot of other things we need an abundance of."

Lilly wiped her face in her hands, trying to rub the tiredness away. "So why not take Lee or Kenny or Carley? Why wake me up?" She sounds cute when she's being all pissy. "Because I don't want Carley, I want _you_ …"

Her head snapped up at me. "to help me with choosing what supplies we need the most." An innocent smile makes her narrow her eyes. I wink then swiftly move on to the next topic I need to talk to her about.

"Irene and I already took a trip into town not too long ago and brought back anything and everything that could or might be useful in some way. We got seeds for planting, fertilizer, televisions for the wires and other electrical stuff, batteries, a hose or two hoses, some basic gardening supplies, and tools for fixing the cars."

She looked really impressed by this. "I had planned on starting a garden and growing our own food. The plants would be put in a sectioned off area of the inn. We could grow tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, oranges too I think. I'm not quite sure _what_ exactly we can grow yet, given our limited space."

I yawn, still a little tired from the watch I just finished. "But that's also why we're going to pick up several helpful books from the library. Of course, we'd each need to learn the essentials of gardening. It doesn't sound like fun, but we would starve otherwise so…" I shrugged helplessly.

I could see the anticipation in her eyes. I'd seen that look one just about everyone while I explained this to them the night before. Lilly was the only one who hadn't been there. She'd been too tired to stand let alone be impressed so she went to bed earlier than the others had.

"Now moving onto the fences. As you know, we've already built most of it using scrap metal, wooden boards, those two dumpsters we have, and some barbed wire to make a large fence with some sliding gate doors. But now that Doug's brought it up, I was hoping to try and get it rigged into an electric fence."

She looked impressed. Excited, even. "Ah ah ah. Before you get your hopes up, an electric fence is something that _might_ happen. It all depends on whether Doug's able to get it done with what knowledge he has. Unfortunately, there is no 'Building an Electric Fence for Dummies' book he can use."

"Now, in addition to the four cars we have already, the pickup and Glenn's car in make a total of six. And while I know my way around a car, that leaves two people to take care of six cars. So we also need to make our way to an auto parts store."

"But before we get started on any of those things, I need to know if you're coming with me." There's no way she's not coming with me.

Sighing, Lilly rubs the bridge of her nose. "Fine. Let me know when you're ready to go." I laugh, happy she's coming, and motion at her. "I'm ready to go right now. You, on the other hand, might want to get dressed first; though it'd be a crying shame to hide that lovely stomach of yours."

She frowns slightly, before widening her eyes and looking down at herself. I get up off the bed and make to leave, stopping at the door. "Don't worry Lilly, I'm only going to remember this amazing moment for the rest of my natural born life." From the way her face is starting to scrunch up, I could feel a shitstorm heading my way.

"Come get me when you're ready!" I quickly close the door and make my way over to Andre, who's sitting on top of the RV. "Andre, Lilly and I are going into town to pick up some stuff. Keep an eye on things and let everyone know where we've gone."

"Okay, no problem. Be safe out there, yeah? From what how he's been acting this last week, God knows how Larry's going to react if anything happens to her." I give him a thumbs up and walk away. It'll be fine. I'll be there the whole time, ready for any walkers trying to get us.

It takes ten minutes for Lilly to get dressed and ready to go. As soon as she gets into the car with me, we're taking the larger of the two pickups, I hand her two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a bottle of water, and a bag of potato chips. "It's not breakfast, but it _is_ food."

In return, I get a hard smack on the arm. "Owww…what was that for? That really hurt, Lils." I know exactly what that was for. And if that was the price I had to pay for it, I hope to earn more of those in the future.

"You know _exactly_ what that was for." She hissed at me. "And don't call me Lils." I hold my hands up in surrender. "Sorry, I won't do it again…Lils." Another smack and I put the car into drive. "Wow, you really know how to treat a girl to a good time you know that?"

She doesn't respond, but she does occasionally glance at me out of the corner of her eye. An internal cackle in my successes and I'm spared from another assault.

The drive to the drug store seemed a lot longer this morning than it did last night. Though, it's not much of a problem for me; it's more time I get to spend with the lovely Lilly.

You know, it's hard to believe how infatuated, and I use that term because that's exactly how I feel, I am with Lilly. Maybe I'm supposed to be freaked out that I have this almost…instinctual _drive_ …to get close to her? I don't know.

What I do know is that from the moment I saw her in the drug store, that feeling was suddenly there. Surreal, almost, given the circumstances of me being here…but I honestly can't think of anything I want to do more; excluding changing the tragic story that is season one.

I try not to think about it too much 'cause all it does is make me worry about one more thing I can't control, but the more I see her the more I think about how unnaturally natural the idea of me and her being together sounds in my head.

Is…is this like love at first sight. Is that it? Love? That'd explain a lot of what I'm feeling right now. But it couldn't be, could it? I mean, first of all, it's only been less than a week since I got dropped off in this apocalyptic nightmare! And while I am familiar with who she is via the game, I've only really known her as an actual living person for less than an ideal amount of time.

Second of all, I don't _fall in love_ with the men and women I play around with. Like, ever. A lot of bad break ups under my belt because of that little detail, let me tell you. So, this is all just beyond me right now.

It's all just…really fucking weird for me right now, you know? If only I could talk to someone about it. Just talking about it and knowing someone was listening and understanding the fucked-up position I'm in would make me feel _so_ _much_ better.

But that's an impossible dream. The weight of the burden I carry, one that I can only hope is going to save more lives than it takes, is meant only for me.

Hehehe…and ain't that a bitch?


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello all! I made this chapter thinking of ways that I could make this story stand out from my other ones. I was feeling rather experimental and I think you'll all see, and hopefully enjoy, that I'm giving my character a personal issue that doesn't translate too well in a world full of constant stress and impossible situations._

 _As such, this story may get darker and much more sexually charged at times, maybe more often than I'm currently thinking I'll put into it because I'm sort of fickle like that, than my other ones. Again, I felt like maybe it was time I tried to mix up what I'm putting out there for you guys. (So try not to get too critical of the steamy stuff. I have little to no experience writing it. Especially when it needs to be evenly and smoothly intertwined with actual romance.)_

 _Anyway, leave me a review with pointers, concerns, or questions and I'll see you guys and gals in the next chapter!_

 _Bye~_

Soon, I find that I'm backing the truck up so that it's easier for us to load what we take. First stop was the grocery store. Food is what's going to be on our minds the most these next three months, because that's the time we're going to spend at the motor inn before shit hits the fan, so we're going to take all we can.

Unfortunately, most of the local grocery stores have been ravaged. There was still a decent amount of food missed in everyone's haste, so it wasn't a complete loss. I think, maybe, we should go and take a trip to the nearest Save Lots the next time we go out to scavenge. Maybe we kill some rapists while we're at it.

Jolene, you have not been forgotten. I'll be there to save you and your daughter soon. Just gotta hold on until then.

The backrooms of these stores had mostly canned food items and bottled drinks. Peaches, beans, meat, milk, and several other things I didn't know could be of a canned variety. We were both blown away by the convenience of every store having this 'secret' cache of food.

In one of the stores we combed through, we put together that two store employees had tried to hide some food in a private office, so they could come back and get it when everyone else was gone. But considering that I had to take out two walkers in Super Mart uniforms after breaking into said private office, it looks like neither lived long enough to go enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Only long enough to die beside it.

The Super Mart we were in just so happened to be right next to a one stop shop type of store. The kind that sells everything you might need and even some things you didn't even know you needed.

It was lucky, too, because the motel blankets and pillows I slept on last night were absolute shit and needed to be replaced. No insulation whatsoever and the material was scratchy as fuck. So, this was less about necessity and more about what I want to sleep on.

I never expected the store to be filled to the brim with walkers because I never expected people to go to a bedroom furniture store of all places for shelter. So, Lilly and I got to spend the next forty-five minutes clearing out the place.

This is where things start to get more like the show. In the game, the gore is only really pronounced when a main character dies or almost dies and when walkers get mangled in a quick time event. But in the show, they hold nothing back when it comes to spilled guts and bloodshed.

And it's because of this bloodshed that most of what's on display at the store is now _covered_ in walker. Just…it's everywhere. And the reason it got so messy is because we stuck mostly to using the machete I have, and the knife Lilly has. Slicing and stabbing go well with pushing and stomping; all of which ends in a splatter.

We would've used guns, but that would have taken a chunk of our ammo away. And ammo is a precious commodity these days. Or at least, it will be.

"You know, in hindsight" Out of breath, I watch the last walker slump over. "maybe we should've," I take a breath. "just gone to another store." I wipe the machete on one of the nearby bed spreads and put it away.

Lilly looks at me incredulously. "You _think_?" I can't help but laugh. I need to put my hands on my knees and my head between my legs. "You're crazy! You-" She's so out of breath she begins to cough. "I should have just left you behind and gone to another store by myself!"

My breathing is still rough, but evening out. "Why didn't you? You'd have been safe, at the very least." I make a tired gesture towards her with my arm when she doesn't respond. "So, now that we've dealt with them, I think the store rooms might have some clean sheets we can still use."

She nods and moves to where the signs say there's a bathroom. "Let's just get this over with already. I want to finish what we need to and get back to the others." She's probably worried about Larry. "Usually, those back rooms are right next to the bathrooms. Come on." I sluggishly follow her, very much enjoying the way she looks walking in jeans as I do.

When we found what we were looking for and more, I felt like it was more than worth it getting covered in walker guts. Bedsheets, suitcases, duffle bags, portable chargers, clothes, and a lot more than we can take in one trip.

"I don't think we'll be able to take all of this in one go." I nod in agreement. "We can put the clothes and sheets in those suitcases to save space and make it easier to carry. So, aside from that, what else should we take?"

We walk around and pick out what we think we should take. Lilly goes for the more practical items while I aim for luxury. By the time we went through it all, Lilly and I had loaded two suitcases down with solar powered chargers, rechargeable batteries, several long-range walkie talkies, some board games, several decks of cards, a battery powered water filter, and a container of dominoes.

We also filled another three suitcases with enough bed sheets and towels for everyone in our group.

After loading what we had onto the truck, we went to the public library. It was about a mile down the road from the Super Mart.

The doors were unlocked, but the library itself was empty. No walkers, no corpses, no people, and nothing that looks like anybody had been there in a long time. I turn to Lilly as we walk in, a question on my mind.

"Do you like to read?" She stops and looks at me strangely. I pick a book off the shelf and run my hand over the cover. 'The Wizard of Oz'

"I like to read. Though, lately, I haven't been reading a whole lot. At least, not as much as I used to when I was a kid. Being a cop tends to take over certain aspects of your life you didn't really cherish until they were gone, you know? Things you never really paid attention to…"

I guess that's not really an issue for me, or any of us, these days.

"…I hated reading when I was a little girl." She leaned back against the information desk, refusing to look at anywhere but the ground. "The words moved whenever I tried, and I tried _very_ hard. My parents, much like almost everyone else, thought that I just wasn't focusing hard enough."

Sounds like dyslexia. One of those commonplace struggles everyone often misunderstood as something else entirely. "After that, I was always pressured to _try_ harder and _be_ better than the people around me. It was a…tough childhood…and it made me into the hard-ass I am today." She looked almost apologetic.

The silence that settled between us was thick with emotional tension. Without another word, Lilly started to go further into the building. I placed the book I was holding in my duffle bag and kept moving.

As we walk, I keep on thinking about how she opened up to me about her dyslexia after only a week of trying to get on her good side. I _am_ making progress. And soon enough, she'll be mine. Her and those playful hips she's swaying all over the place.

Little minx.

Sultry thoughts aside, after making it past the reception area, the two of us walked through the aisles and took whatever books looked good. We grabbed anything and everything that looked like it would be the least bit interesting to the kids.

I made sure to pick up several Bibles for Irene since I didn't know which ones were the ones she'd be the most interested in reading. A couple of topic-specific textbooks were also plucked from the shelves in the education section; because I plan on putting them all through Penny's School of Survival.

A few dictionaries were also taken to burn in case we need to keep a fire going and there was no wood around. And finally, some sci-fi and fantasy books for me that may or may not contain works of an overtly erotic nature.

Don't judge me! All work, no play, and no girlfriend to have sex with makes Penny a very sexually frustrated girl!

If the others want a specific genre of books, I'd be more than happy to come back and pick them up the next time we go out. Though I doubt any of us will have enough leisure time to read all the books before our three months of peace is up.

We're about to leave, needing to pass through the childrens' section to get back to the main area, when Lilly hears something. She claims it's a walker, and that we should take care of it before we leave. "We don't want to be ambushed the next time we come here. So, let's just kill it and go." I nod and go to take care of it.

The closer we get to where Lilly can hear it, the louder the groans become. Had she not told me, I would have missed it and possibly been subjected to a walker bite I wasn't expecting to get in the library I thought was clear.

It's standing in the center of the storytelling circle that most libraries I've been to have for the younger children. I come up from behind and quickly sink a blade deep into the back of its head. It drops to the floor and we're done for the day.

Or so I think.

Once the walker in front of me stops growling, I can hear some more coming from behind one of the curtains. It'd almost be amusing to think of a walker trying to hide if wasn't such a scary ass concept.

Lilly taps in, in which she actually taps me on the shoulder, and goes to take care of the 'hidden' walker. Only, she gets as far as pulling back the curtain before stopping and quickly backing away.

"What's wrong?" She looks at me, shakes her head in what looks like stunned disbelief, and walks away. "Lilly? Lilly! At least wait for me by the front doors!" It was both disturbing and worrying to watch her just leave me like that.

I take it upon myself to kill the walker behind the curtain. The moment I pull it aside, however, I see what unnerved her. I see it and I understand exactly why her reaction was what it was. It isn't an ordinary walker she'd have had to kill.

It's a child. A walker that was once somebody's little girl. At one point, not too long ago, it was unthinkable that such a young kid would need to be put down like a rabid dog.

But now…I thrust the knife into its temple and pull her over to the body of the other walker. I place them side by side, their hands connecting, and leave them there. It just doesn't feel right to leave them any other way; assuming they _were_ mother and daughter.

I take a few minutes to pray for them, I hold one of the Bibles as I do so, and then leave. I don't think I'll be coming back to this part of the library any time soon. Not if I can help it.

Lilly's just standing by the truck when I get outside. It makes sense, considering I have the keys. I approach her with caution. She was still prone to lashing out at people. "That was some pretty heavy stuff back there. You okay?"

She glares at me with such intensity, I almost flinch. Almost. "Am I okay? Am I okay!? What do you think!?" I look around, trying to see if any walkers heard her. "Fuck no I'm not okay! That was-! She-!" Her hands punch the side of the truck, leaving behind another dent.

"That little girl…she was one of _them_. Until now, they've all been grown men and women. I didn't even think about how children had been affected by this…" she struggled for the words. "I don't even know what to call it."

Shaking fingers ran through her hair while the other hand held her pant leg in a vice grip. "It's just…it's just too much, Penny. I don't think I can do it anymore…not after that! I mean…what's…what's the point?"

Tears stream down her face and she starts to hyperventilate.

"W-what the h-hell is the point of a-all this if we're just g-going to be like them in t-the end?" Another angry fist into the side of the car. "W-what's the point o-of surviving this n-nightmare of a w-dorld d-day after day f-for what's probably going t-to be the rest o-of our very short and m-miserable l-lives!?"

My hand moves faster than I can think and delivers a crisp back handed slap to her cheek. "The point?" I get in her face. "The _point_ is whatever you need it to be, Lilly. Survival, family, friends, and anything else you can use as an excuse to stay alive for just one more day. _That's_ the point."

This time she tries to walk away from me, a weak attempt at that, but in my anger, I push her up against the car. "You know what mine is?" She meekly shakes her head, no emotional strength left to do anything else. " _You_. And Andre, Glenn, Irene, Lee, Clementine, Duck, and everyone else back at The Travelier!"

"It's been a _week_ Lilly. Not even! Six days and you're giving up already? _Seriously_? All of you became my reason to keep on living the _moment_ you agreed to join me." I laugh in her face, with audible disappointment. "I guess I was wrong to expect that from you in return."

Any guilt I might feel right now is momentarily lost to the anger. I will not have my plans be put in jeopardy because of one dead walker, regardless of whether or not it was a child at one point. It's _not_ happening. I'll be damned if any of them try and go the Katjaa route.

I won't allow it. Even if that means I need to play the bad guy, no one will die if I can help it. I'll beat a reason for living into them all if I have to…

That's when the anger that fueled my physical confrontation is suddenly gone. It leaves me almost as fast as it came, but it also leaves me in the aftermath of that 'Governor'-like declaration.

So here I stand with Lilly in tears, a growing sense of guilt, and the encroaching threat of walkers being drawn in by our shouting.

I sigh. "Just…get in the car." She slides out from under me, and retreats to her side of the car. I guess this means we're worse off than when we started. Fuck…this is what I get for letting my anger get the best of me.

On our way back to the motor inn, we stop by the drug store and gather what's left of the barricades. Thankfully, the walkers have left, the alarm has died, and no one's taken anything. No point in wasting what could be used effectively on our walls.

We tie it all down with some bungee cords and then quickly leave in case any walkers or bandits show up. With all this weight slowing us down and the wooden constructs threatening to fall out of the truck if we turn too hard, it took us twice as long to get back.

That meant I had to sit next to the sniffling aftermath of my anger management issues for even longer.

 **Scene Break**

A few days later, the wall for the motor inn was finished. I even reinforced the sections of fence between the individual buildings enough to hopefully withstand any walkers trying to get in. Walkers were no way near as weak as their decaying appearance led people to believe.

Being strong enough to pull a grown man down to the floor, break through the skin with both teeth and hands, and then tear off chunks of muscle one mouthful at a time made them more than capable of taking down a wooden fence. Especially when they did so in groups.

It took all of yesterday for Doug, Kenny, Lee, and I to figure out how to make the fence electrified. A lot of zapped fingers, and some rather explicit curses shared between Kenny and I, later, we got the fence set up so that the solar panels Lee and Kenny picked up on _their_ supply run powered the thing.

It turns out that the survivors in the show and the game never really used _everything_ the now defunct world had to offer. Although that could just be because everyone was just scrambling to not die in the beginning of everything and it slipped their minds to get things beyond just food, water, and guns.

Another modification we made to the gate was installing a barricade into the back of the dumpsters. It looked like the kind of heavy duty lock medieval kingdoms put on their most important doors. Placing a thick plank of wood and some sturdy sheet metals in the holders, I don't know the technical term, would keep any walkers from pushing their way in.

And if the worst-case scenario happened and the motor inn became flooded with walkers, we parked each of the cars diagonally and facing the gate should the need ever arise for us to haul ass out of there.

As of last week, we each have specific jobs that need to be done each day. Kenny's job was to maintain our cars so they didn't suddenly break down. He said that despite his experience, he would need several weeks to figure out how to fix the RV's aged engine. Other than that, he would go out and scavenge with me, Lee, and Glenn.

We've picked most of the places nearby dry in a matter of days, paying special attention to laundromats. Without any heating, it was cold at night. So, we went around town collecting clothes that were left behind in order to pile them on top of ourselves when it got too cold for just blankets.

It's honestly amazing what a handful of people can gather in a walker infested town with just two pick-ups, four silenced pistols, and all the motivation in the world.

Carley's job was to tend to the garden we started and harvest the vegetables that would come in about a month's time. We chose seeds that the book Lilly picked out in the library said were fast growing. In anywhere from thirty to fifty days, we'll be rich in baby carrots, radishes, cucumbers, beets, lettuce, summer squash, and turnips.

We'll start planting the ones that take longer once we gather the first few harvests. I know nothing is certain right now, but I'm hoping we can stay at the Travelier for longer than just the three months I think we're guaranteed.

I really think we can make this place work.

Doug's job was to help Carley with the plants and keep our electronics running. We had stockpiled quite a few useful gadgets for him to either tinker around with to somehow make it better or use it to our benefit.

So far, he's put the solar powered chargers to use in charging our numerous battery powered flashlights, our twelve walkie talkies, the portable fans for during the hot summer days, and several other devices that make life a little bit easier for us.

Lee, Glenn, and Andre were our main scavenger force, with me and Kenny being special tagalongs whenever they planned to go to the local outlet mall to get big hauls.

Irene…she actually put her somewhat fanatical worship of God to use. Praying was, despite my initial thoughts, helping some of us get through this. Larry, Kenny, and Katjaa being the ones who seemed to take the most comfort in a higher power watching over them.

Understandable, given the circumstances. We all need something to believe in. Something infallible.

Other than practicing her faith, she played with the children and took to helping Katjaa with the medicine. I think she should learn some first aid while she's at it so if anything happens and me, Andre, and Katjaa aren't here, at least someone knows the basics.

Larry put his hulking self to good use and helped Doug maintain the wall. His attitude wasn't as prevalent as it once was. I mean, he was still such a dick at times. But not like it was a week ago. It might have something to do with the introduction of Irene's prayers.

Katjaa was placed in charge of all things motherly and medical. Anything that was a drug or medicinal in nature was given to her to sort, I managed to pick her up a book about people doctoring since she was a veterinarian, and then use on patients as needed.

She made four people in the group that know basic first aid. Though we should probably go and teach the others as well, so they won't have to rely on someone else when they shouldn't have to.

I'm a jack of all trades when it comes to my roles. I scavenged, tended the garden, worked on the cars, sorted through new supplies, and did small odd jobs around the motor inn that helped smooth things along for us.

The kids were…kids. They helped with planting seeds and keeping the general morale up with their innocence and naivety. I tell you, Duck's ADHD and the fact that Clementine is an absolute cutie have me getting up with a smile on my face most mornings.

And finally, Lilly. Her job was to take inventory of everything and anything the moment it went through our gates. It was decided that every week, inventory would be taken of what we had and we had used, so that incidents such as a certain high school student managing to sneak off with supplies as a bribe to keep the bandits away don't happen.

As for how we're going to deal with the bandits when they show up, I have no concrete plans. I briefly considered just going over to their camp late at night and absolutely fucking their shit up, but that would take more than just me and a couple of guns.

But I honestly don't think that anyone other than me would really be up to hitting them first; let alone going out of our way to kill them all while they sleep.

You know, I used to be a cop…

Now, while Lilly was enjoying the increasingly familiar routine of checking our supplies I could tell, and so could everyone from Doug to Clementine, that our trip to town a few days ago had really left her shaken up. Larry in particular had a bug up his ass about it when she refused to even speak about what had happened.

She just hadn't been the same after I'd blown up at her. Whenever I walk by her, I can see her shrink away from me for a split second before adopting her usual mask of 'Don't fuck with me.'

Out of fear, maybe? I don't know. I've never been truly feared by someone before; outside of being a cop that would absolutely bust their ass and then send it to jail.

But was I really that scary back at the library? Fuck, man! I _knew_ my anger would get the better of me someday. Especially no that I was in the goddamned apocalypse! I just never thought it would result in the only woman in the camp I could see myself in bed with, no offense to Carley and Katjaa but they're not my type at all, ending up completely afraid of me.

This was an issue I have been trying to deal with since even before I came here. Over the course of my personal life and professional career, my anger has caused me more grief than I care to think about.

If a person or a problem becomes too overwhelming for me to handle with only a "normal person's" temperament, as my department mandated therapist had so eloquently had explained, then I found myself losing patience and control faster than I could try and muster either.

One such example was when they couldn't make up their minds in the drug store in what should have been an ' _immediate_ yes to my offer' situation. Instead I went for my gun in a haze of anger, as if I couldn't spend another few minutes trying to persuade them without a show of force.

Thank god for the fact that they hadn't dealt with the walker in the bathroom before I got there. Otherwise, it would've been a much more devastating blow to my still fragile credibility. We were all still feeling each other out, for the moment.

I should…probably apologize. Possibly explain my anger issues in the hopes that _maybe_ she doesn't avoid me for the rest of time.

Though I think I'll wait a few days. Maybe let her nerves relax…Or should I just go over to her room tonight? Treat the situation like a band-aid and rip the motherfucker off in one go. Yeah, that sounds better. I'd rather do that than wait; I hate waiting.

The anticipation of having to apologize, something I absolutely _hate_ doing in general, was always what killed me the most whenever I was forced to "state my regret". My high school principal loved to preach that specific phrase at me.

Maybe…I wonder…if I should drink a little first. It'd loosen up _my_ nerves a bit, and it's not like I have watch for the next couple of days either. A drink or two would certainly help…and the bottle _is_ right under the bed after all; within grabbing distance.

I wouldn't even drink all that much. Maybe just a quick sip to get me going before I chickened out.

It was all the reason I needed to make such a, and I'm quoting my father here, "…stupid-ass decision that might just be the best possible thing to come out of this shit-show we're in."

So, I did. And it was.


	8. Chapter 8

_Hello, boy and girls!_

 _I'm back, inspired, after a very long time away from this story with a new chapter. I figured I'd write one up for you all because of seven reviews popping up out of nowhere._

 _Though, after some investigating, I found out that this story had been added to a community. So, thank you, Yellow Horse, for that. And also thank you to XenonDark, Raven Blanchard, and calcu22. Your reviews were just what I needed to write this chapter._

 _Anyway, let me know what you all think of this chapter. It's been a while since I wrote Penny, so I was struggling to get back into the mindset I was in when I first wrote this. So don't hate me too much if there is a noticeable difference in my writing from this chapter on._

 _See you all in the next chapter!_

 _Bye~_

So, you know how I mentioned me drinking being the best possible outcome. I was right. My bad habits actually saved me from making a drunken fool out of myself.

I ended up drinking the entire bottle and then passing out on my bed, not even making a single step towards that apology I wanted to give to Lilly. Fuck, me. Why can't this just all go away? I'd really rather not deal with all this angst bullshit.

Whatever, I'll just try again later or something. The thought becomes too troublesome to deal with, so I just shove it back into the recess' of my mind where I can stumble across it later at the worst possible time.

I get up off the bed, taking a second to steady myself, and make my way to the bathroom where I grab a handful of wet wipes and wipe myself down to the best of my hungover capabilities. Water is not something that we can afford to waste on activities as trivial and needless as multiple daily showers. Daily showers in general, really.

The human body only needs to be showered once every two or three days. That's twice a week for those of us who don't like the time uncertainty in that estimation. Any less and you open yourself up to sicknesses that come with being dirty, and any more leaves your skin deprived of the natural oils your body releases to keep you from feeling dry and flaky.

Anyway, it's going to be a rare commodity sooner rather than later and wasting it on something other than drinking or growing our food should be avoided at all costs. Even with growing our food in mind, we're trying to build a system that work towards trapping rainwater into empty containers so that we can have more to actually drink.

Hence, the wet wipes being what we're going to be using as body cleansers until we can find some way to live otherwise.

After I'm finished, I put a new set of clothes on, the ones I'm wearing having been worn for three days straight and starting to smell a bit too strong for my liking, and head to the door. My hand turns the handle before quickly letting go and reaching for the sunglasses sitting on the nearby desk.

I was _not_ going to face the, I look at my watch, midday Georgia sun with nothing to protect my poor alcohol battered eyes. _Now_ , I turn the handle and push the door open, immediately grateful to whoever the beautiful soul who invented sunglasses was. The sun was shining bright today, the heat beating down on me being evidence enough.

Of course, the sight of the admittedly beautiful clear blue sky was drowned out by the faint sound of walkers moaning in the far distance. You couldn't hear them ordinarily, what with the sound of cars and trucks being worked on, Clem and Duck playing, the and the ever present arguments between Lee and Kenny against Lilly and Larry.

But today there was none of that. Leaning over the railing, I watched on as Kenny and Katjaa sat on the couch they pulled from the front desk area taking a nap; the RV's sun flap thing, whatever it is you call it, providing them some cool shade.

Larry, Glenn, and Doug were doing a once over on the fence. Every day at least two of us would check for anything that might cause problems. Adjusting any possible loose wires, removing any walkers that may have gotten caught up in the fence over the course of the night, tightening the bolts on the arms of the wood plank barricade, and whatever else needed repairs.

Duck and Clementine were busy drawing hopscotch squares, using the little booklet that came with the package of chalk Lee had gotten for her as a guide. It was quite adorable, much like everything and anything else that involves Clementine, to see her trying to get Duck to draw them the right away without totally losing her cool. They'd already had to re-do it twice, and from the tiny stamps of her foot on the ground, she was one more misshapen box away from giving up entirely.

Lee and Andre sat on top of the moving truck, rifles in hand as they kept a lookout for anything coming from either sides of the motel. It seemed inefficient to have just one person keep swiveling their head from side to side trying to keep an eye on three possible ways for danger to come at them.

Irene was sitting out in the open in a folding chair, her legs crossed to hold an open Bible and her hands full with a clipboard and a currently scribbling pen. With that shy but proud smile on her face, the one that I can see Glenn distractedly noticing as well from his position at the gate, there was no doubt in my mind that she was putting some sort of lesson plan together on this "trial" that she thinks God is putting humanity through. She mentioned wanting to do something to let people know that "their Lord hadn't abandoned them".

The good news with that is that despite the, pardon my french, absolute shit show that was her life up until this fresh hell reared its ugly, undead head, Irene isn't so much a fanatic in her beliefs as she is a firm believer. Which is all well and good…so long as she doesn't try any of the Holy Crusade stuff I'm still somewhat preparing myself for.

It's the apocalypse, not the Dark Ages. There are enough problems going around without someone trying to do the work of God by slaughtering the non-believers.

Finally, I could see Carley and Lilly still in her, Carley's, room through the open blinds, cleaning their pistols and talking. There's a slight pang in my chest at seeing them have what looked like a semi-pleasant conversation. Something I've been trying to do for _days_ now!

Definitely need to corner her at some point _today_. No procrastinating!

Occasionally, they'd glance out towards the gate with uncertain frowns. Because despite our sweet set up, the apocalypse was still going on. Even _inside_ our cozy little habitat, and we all knew it. Even the kids picked up on the long-term implications of the monsters that probably plagued their nightmares.

As much as we all want to just ignore it and hope it goes away, barring me because I'm too meta at this stage to even try denying the reality of my new life, the world as we now know it is here to stay for a good long while.

I take a few more minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet before making my way down the stairs.

Unfortunately, I need to talk to them about what we're going to be doing next. We've already built decent defenses, our garden bed has been made and the seeds planted so all we need to do is wait for them to grow, and the rations we have were organized and stored away a few days ago so that they would last us an entire month and a half before we'd need to make any major cutbacks. As for guns and ammo, there's enough to last us for the foreseeable future depending on how well we do with sticking to our bats, knives, and assorted melee weapons.

But there's still issues we need to deal with.

First of all, I don't think we have enough people.

Walking over to Carley's room, I give the door a quick couple of knocks before I stop by the couch and tap Kenny's stretched out leg with my foot. He jerks awake, causing Katjaa to do the same. "People, wake up, team meeting time." I tap the side of the truck hard enough to draw Andre and Lee's attention too. By then, the others had noticed the change in the sleepy atmosphere.

"So," I clap my hands together. "I've been thinking." From up above I can hear a certain Cool Ranch eating asshat mumble something like, "That doesn't bode well for us at all." I flip him the bird without so much as glancing in his direction, only hearing him and Lee snickering silently.

" **Kenny** , _Katjaa_ , Duck, **Lee** , Clementine, **Glenn** , _Irene_ , _Lilly_ , _Larry_ , **Carley** , _Doug_ , **Andre** , and **Penny**." I list off our names and take a breath once I finish. "Two of us are children. Of the remaining eleven, six of us are capable of hunting and scavenging and walker killing with the best success rates no offense to those other five, and the rest specialize in something invaluable right here."

"But, honestly, it's not enough. _We're_ not enough. We need to think about the big picture. Beyond just merely surviving, and instead _thriving_ in this nightmare of a world we live in now. To do this, we're going to need more people."

Several of them made to say something, Lilly Larry and surprisingly Andre looked especially put off by the idea, but I held up a hand. "That said, I'm not opening our doors to every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes to us with a sob story. Which would be just about _everybody_ at this point so, again, no." I take out a piece of paper with a more detailed description of our current population's different responsibilities and pass it around.

"However, last night," No, this was definitely _not_ what happened last night. I did this the third night our largeer group was formed. I'd just been waiting until we'd more or less settled in before bringing it up. "I couldn't help but think of this diary farm that's not too far away from here that I'd planned on visiting someday before everything went to hell."

Which isn't a technical lie since I really _have_ always wanted to visit an actual farm of some kind since I was a little girl. You know, to pet a cow and milk a horse. Wait, I think I mixed those two up. "A family lives there. The St. Johns. I'd like to invite them into our group. And I wanted to know what you all think before I do." Implying that I was going to do so regardless.

Oh, yes. Those would-be cannibals had been on my mind for a while. If I could get to them before those Save-Lot assholes did, because I ave the feeling that they were directly responsible for the family becoming cannibals in the first place, that's three more people I could save. Not to mention all those poor survivors they had lured to their fucked up deaths.

It'd be a major win in my book.

Kenny spoke first. "I get that we'd be safer in larger numbers," Though it was a little more complicated than just simple numbers. "but our food is only goin' to last us so long and there's no guarantee that anything we've planted so far will grow. Adding more people might just push our almost unbelievable luck a little too far."

"And what could they offer us that we'd need so badly?" Andre. "Our fence is sturdy and electrified, we have enough guns and crap to hold off the walkers, and you said it yourself. The people living in this world right now, they might be the kind of assholes to stab us in the back once they're in our good graces."

Then Larry followed, needing to add his two-cents in. "Why the hell would we even _consider_ risking what we have? It's a stupid fucking idea, is what it is." Lilly, rather disappointingly I might say, simply nodded in agreement, not even meeting my eye.

Ugh, come on woman! Give me _something_ at least. Absolutely killing me here.

I have to say, I wasn't expecting all this opposition. Feeling a little betrayed here Andre; our Doritos differences put aside. I expected this with _them_ , but not exactly from you or Irene. It stings. But, whatever. I'm the leader, right, still haven't exactly established that with everyone I guess.

Mental note to nip that in the bud later.

"…okay. Anyone else have anything to add? Any other concerns to share?" I made sure to keep the bite out of my otherwise level tone.

My anger would not hinder me today! Hopefully…I'll try my best…no guarantees…

"No? Alright." I cross my arms and take a breath. "Kenny, the St. John's Dairy Farm has cows. Cows mean a fresh supply of milk. They also mean we can breed our very own meat supply for a good long time if we have the know-how. Know-how that they, the St. John's themselves, would most certainly have. So, milk and beef. That's the first part of their contribution to us."

Turning to Andre, with an audible sigh so he knows how slightly hurt at his apparent lack of faith in me I am, "Yes, our walls _have_ been put up, it's electrified too. And our arsenal _is_ something to admire. _But_ , have any of us lived on a farm before? Where fixing shit is usually done by one's own hand? So much so that they know the ins and outs of wall building. I haven't." I look around seeing no one stepping forward.

"What if whoever does the fixing for the farm has those skills? That's a missed opportunity. There could be any number of areas on that wall that could be exploited, and we wouldn't even know about it until it was too late. Or maybe there's an entirely _better_ way to build the wall. Make it taller or stronger or whatever else can be done to it."

Nodding was good sign from him, need to keep that little stagger of his from happening more often if I can.

"Plus, I also said that people are going to be getting real desperate real soon." Well, I at least heavily implied it, I think. "It's been maybe two weeks, give or take a few days. I'd imagine everyone is about on their last legs about now. And not to sound like a heartless and manipulative bitch or anything, you know I probably shouldn't curse so much around the children," I didn't catch whoever did it, but someone groaned and then facepalm. "but I can't think of a better time to go and offer them a place among us than right now, when they'd be the most grateful."

There were a few surprised looks among them, Doug and Irene being chief among them. Doug because he obviously wasn't used to using people's situations to his advantage; poor guy is going to need to find a way to deal with the shitstorm of little to no morals coming all of our ways.

And Irene…she's shocked because I'm never like that around her. Usually, I'm the one settling arguments, I'll give you three guesses as to who I've needed to separate and calm down, and keeping things from deescalating into us turning into some sort of raider/bandit group.

As it turns out, having too much in the way of supplies, much like having too little, can make you equally as likely to covet _other_ people's supplies. I shut that shit down _hard_. Ugh, Larry. It's always fuckin' Larry. To be fair, while he didn't say we should go rob other people outright, he was certainly thinking along the lines of aggressive negotiations should we run into other groups in the future.

Anyway, to Irene, as far as I can tell from that look in her eye she gets when we talk, she sees me as some kind of benevolent savior. Like her knight in shining riot gear. The one who, when the monsters and the very world around her was collapsing, came and gave her hope, stability, and relative safety. Not all that far from the truth; in fact it's pretty much exactly what I did because I'm awesome like that.

I push on, though, unwilling to let myself get caught up in their reactions. "So, how are we feeling about it _now_?"

Looks are traded, and decisions are made with shrugs and eyerolls being tossed every which way.

 **Scene Break**

My luck…my luck is…the words fail to come to me. And of they hadn't, I wouldn't have known whether to think of it as incredibly amazing or just plain unbelievable. Because what were the fucking odds!

So, there we were, riding with the smaller of our pickups down a dirt path in the forest, Lee driving, Kenny sitting next to him in the cab, and me holding on for dear life in the truck's bed. Driving on dirt roads without an actual seat to sit on or a seatbelt to wear officially _sucked_ , by the way _._

We were on our way to the Dairy Farm, directions secretly courtesy of my map, but officially because of 'what I remember from the last time I was in Macon and thinking about going to give the place a quick look around'. All I can say is thank God for a full tank of gas and the miracle that is the automobile. Because the walk would have taken us at least an hour, whereas a pleasant fifteen minute drive was all we currently needed to bear.

But, just as the farm came into view, I heard screaming coming from my right. Though, a better term for it would be a desperate shriek for help. Walkers didn't scream for help, and it didn't sound like an older woman or two grown men so it couldn't have been the St. John's. Unless they'd already went all Hannibal Lector before I could get to them, that is, and were the ones attacking the girl. Which would suck major ass because I'd then be forced to kill the people who could provide us with milk and burgers.

The girl, and I could hear clearly now how young she was, screamed a second time before going silent mid-way. Oh, fuck that. I slapped against the hood of the cab and we slowed to a stop. I was on the ground long before then, signaling to the confused men to follow but to keep low and keep quiet.

Seeing me pulling up my rifle and keeping at the ready, both men gently closed and manually locked their truck doors before following; their own guns also in hand. Without saying a word, because noise was something both walkers and people tended to pick up on at the absolute shittiest of times, I had us spread out a bit.

The screams had been close by, practically in my ear, when we were in the truck. So, whatever happened, or was _happening_ , wouldn't be more than a few yards away. Probably somewhere inside this small clearing I can just barely see through the bushes I was crawling through.

Adjusting my crouched position, I move some branches aside with my free hand, trying to get a clear view of what was going on and, hopefully, who it was that was screaming. If it was walkers munching on a fresh kill, a highly likely possibility out here deep in the woods, we'd all head back to the truck. It was one of the rules for travelling through the forest I'd established before we left.

Along with the driver taking the keys with them as they left the car, never using the automatic lock button because god help us if a horde of walkers descended upon the source of the noise, and never leaving the car without someone to back you up.

I move the last pesky branch out of the way and into just the right position to get a look at what was happening. I freeze at the sight, and in less than a second I feel all the rage I'd been trying to keep a lid on go supernova. Without even realizing I'd raised it, I'm already staring down the rifle's iron sights trying to get a clear shot. But it's hard with all that red clouding my vision.

My fingers beginning to squeeze down on the trigger when the opportunity to act suddenly goes flying out the window, almost as fast as Kenny and Lee come charging out of the adjacent bushes.

Fuck, man…I mean…just… _fuck_ …


End file.
